Now that the Vikings can officially meet with Adrian Peterson, they intend to do just that.
A source confirmed Peterson will meet with Vikings officials Wednesday in Houston. USA Today reported Vikings coach Mike Zimmer will fly to Texas for the meeting; it also said general manager Rick Spielman was likely to fly with Zimmer.
Spielman said Monday the Vikings have spoken to Peterson by phone and that they would continue to have an "open dialogue" with their star running back while he is on the commissioner's exempt list.
Peterson won a recent court victory when his NFL suspension, set to run until at least April 15, was sent back to the league by Judge David Doty, who ruled an NFL arbitrator's upholding of the suspension was flawed. The league then put Peterson on the exempt list, meaning all Vikings officials could talk with him. The NFL appealed to the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals, but that hearing isn't likely for months.
"We are able to have communication now with Adrian," Spielman said Monday. "We'll keep all those communications internal. I don't want to give you guys a blow-by-blow [account] every day. I think it's been very clearly stated that we want to have Adrian Peterson back. There's no question about the talent. He's a unique talent and he's under contract with us next year."
Spielman was asked about Peterson's comment two weeks ago about feeling "uneasy" about potentially returning to the Vikings and whether there is a "rift" between the player and the team.
"I'm not going to get into anything on that front," said Spielman, who later added, "I can tell you that we're going to have and we have open communication with him and we'll just leave all those discussions between us and Adrian."
Peterson's contract runs through 2017. He is scheduled to make $12.75 million this season.
