Gino Spadaro: March 19th, 2017

NFL free agency is in full motion right now and there is still a premier player on the market. He goes by the name of Adrian Peterson. So far, in his illustrious 10 years in the league, Peterson has accumulated almost 12,000 rushing yards and has scored 97 TD’s. Peterson has had seven 1,000 rushing yards seasons and has averaged just under five yards per carry.

With the Minnesota Vikings confirming that Peterson will not be on the team next year, Peterson needs to find work elsewhere and there is a team who is in dire need of an elite running back. That team is the Green Bay Packers. With RB Eddie Lacy signing with Seattle this off-season, the Packers need to find someone who can accompany Aaron Rodgers in the backfield. With Lacy suffering an injury last season, the Packers were forced to convert WR Ty Montgomery to the RB position. On the season, Montgomery attained 457 rushing yards, and Green Bay will need more production from the RB position to help Rodgers and their passing game in order to get back to the Super Bowl.

Peterson going to Green Bay would remind me of when Brett Favre jumped sides in the rivalry and went to Minnesota, resulting in a resurrection of his career. Peterson, besides playing with Brett Favre for two years, has never played with an elite QB like Aaron Rodgers.

In 2009, during Brett Favre’s incredible first year in Minnesota, Peterson ran for 1,383 rushing yards and 18 TD’s, averaging 4.4 yards per carry. In 2010, with Brett Favre still in Minnesota, Peterson ran for 1,300 yards again with 12 TD’s, averaging 4.6 yards per carry. Why am I bringing this up? Because when you have an elite QB, it opens up the run game, and vice-versa. If you place Peterson next to Aaron Rodgers, who threw for just under 4,500 yards and accumulated 40 passing TD’s last season, you give Peterson a huge opportunity to resurrect his career, much like Favre did in Minnesota. Peterson is a HOF running back, and defenses will have no choice but to respect him. Green Bay would have an offense that would force defenses to pick their poison. If a defense loads the box, the Rodgers would shred them through the air. If they leave 4-5 guys in the box, Peterson will run all over them.

Adrian Peterson made $12 million last year for Minnesota. Green Bay has about $27 million in cap space right now and Peterson is definitely an affordable investment. Adding Peterson will give Green Bay a much needed run game to accompany their elite passing game, and will give them a very good shot at returning to the Super Bowl for the first time since 2011.

This, to me, makes a lot of sense. Perhaps, it may make too much sense.