Adrian Peterson missed almost the entire 2014 season — though still made a lot of money — because he assaulted his 4-year-old child. Yes, we can call it that. Reckless assault is the misdemeanor charge to which Peterson pleaded, avoiding jail time.
The respectable course of action on Peterson's part after that would have been contrition and a desire to make it right with a team and a fan base that was justified in its reactions to what happened.
Instead, Peterson and his representatives have behaved in the exact opposite way — having the gall to try to turn this into an opportunity to either get more money or force a trade, all the while trying (unsuccessfully) to portray Peterson as a victim in all of this.
It's despicable. Whereas a lot of fans were willing to give Peterson a second chance, attempting to understand that he made a mistake based on unfortunate learned behavior, now public opinion has turned even more harshly against Peterson. We've reached the "good riddance" stage.
The final tipping point might be the comment from his agent, Ben Dogra, as quoted by ESPN.com on Monday night: "I don't think it's in Adrian's best interest to play in Minnesota. Why would it be?"
What a gross, arrogant position.
The Vikings, of course, need to play this correctly (as they have so far). They need to maintain a public stance that they intend to keep Peterson. Under no circumstance should they give him a raise or a new contract — not now, after the way this has unfolded. Under no circumstance should they release him. Giving him a raise sends the wrong message, and keeping him in any way creates a cloud over the entire 2015 season. Releasing him brings nothing in return.
What they should do, and what they probably are doing, is quietly shop him to the highest bidder in a trade. They don't need to be blown away by an offer. They just need to keep working until they get the best deal they can get.
