There was a time when it seemed Adrian Peterson’s chances of returning for the Vikings this season were pretty much non-existent, but that is no longer the case after a series of fast-breaking legal developments.
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Tuesday Peterson will appear in court in his child abuse case and, according to Fox 26 News in Houston, will plead guilty to a Class A misdemeanor assault charge.
It’s believed that Peterson will be sentenced to probation as part of the agreement.
It was originally reported that Peterson would not, under any circumstances, go for a plea deal. But obviously things changed.
Peterson looked at the possibility of missing the entire season and decided he cared more about getting back on the field than clearing his name.
Once Peterson enters his plea, the Vikings and the NFL will be on-deck to make their own moves.
It’s believed that the NFL might be amenable to giving Peterson only a short suspension, perhaps just two games, in addition to having him pay back some of the game checks he received from the Vikings during his time on the exempt list.
Once Peterson serves whatever suspension the league decides to give him, it will be up to the Vikings to decide if they wish to reinstate him.
I see no reason why the Vikings would not be true to their word and reinstate Peterson once his legal issues are behind him.
Once Peterson is back in uniform and eligible to play, it will be up to fans to decide whether they choose to embrace their embattled hero or go on shunning him.
The PR issues won’t be fun to deal with, but the Vikings have a lot of practice. Hopefully they won’t sent Zygi Wilf out there for anymore press conferences.
Update: A report from PFT clears up an apparent mistake in the original media report from Houston. Mike Florio says Peterson will plead no contest rather than guilty. A distinction that, for our purposes, means nothing. Either way, Peterson looks on track for reinstatement in the next few weeks.