In case you missed it, and unless you are an insomniac or a resident of Norway you likely did, overnight the Minnesota Vikings placed Adrian Peterson on the little-used exempt/commissioner’s permission list, deactivating Peterson until his legal issues are cleared up.
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The specific terms of the exempt list say Peterson is barred from participating in all team activities, but there is nothing preventing the Vikings from still paying Peterson his weekly game checks while he is off dealing with his legal issues.
And in fact, the Vikings do plan to continue paying Peterson, per Ian Rapoport.
Albert Breer has done the math on Peterson’s remaining base salary for 2014.
... Adrian Peterson still due $10.38 million of his $11.75 million base salary for 2014. That would come in his 15 remaining game checks.
— Albert Breer (@AlbertBreer) September 17, 2014
So at least Adrian will have plenty of money to pay his legal bills.
How long Peterson’s unofficial suspension-with-pay actually lasts will be determined by how the legal process plays out in Texas. Last we heard, Peterson was likely to stand trial some time in 2015.
If things remain as they are, Peterson will not be done dealing with his legal problems before the end of the season. So, this can be seen as a de facto year-long suspension.
After the season, the Vikings will have a call to make on Peterson. He is still under contract through 2017, but cutting him will certainly be something the Vikings look into after the year.
It certainly seems very likely that Adrian Peterson has played his last down for the Vikings. But if we’ve learned anything over the past few days, it’s not to assume anything in this story.