First round picks are incredibly valuable. You get (theoretically) a top talent on a super cheap contract for at least 5 seasons.
Adrian Peterson is being paid like not only the top RB in the league, but by a WIDE margin. He is due to make around 14 million per season for the next 3 seasons.
So you are trading a cheap, valuable asset in a first round pick for a player who you are paying for his career production rather than the production you can realistically expect from Peterson once he gets to your team. You pay him 14 million because in 2012 he played like a 14 million dollar back. Would you get that same back in 2015? I say not very likely.
He has 2,200 career NFL touches. I realize Peterson is a freak, but it is inevitable he is going to be slowing down now that he is on the wrong side of 30
Peterson also has a long list of injuries he has battled throughout his career. I can only speculate, but that won't be getting better with age, likely worse.
Now, factor in the fact that he missed nearly all of last season. Not even talking about off-field issues, simply pointing out that missing an ENTIRE season is horrible for your career. He wasn't around the team. He wasn't practicing. He wasn't rehabbing. He was out of football mode and dealing with entirely different issues. Now he has to come back and flip that switch and try to play the most physical position in sports. Again, another sign I don't like.
And allllll of the aforementioned issue are before we even get to the child abuse or sex scandals, not to mention he is now viewed as a locker room problem because he is trying to force his way out of Minnesota even though realistically the Vikings have done nothing wrong here.
Also, the Pats don't have the cap space to bring in Peterson. The contending team you are thinking of is Dallas. I think Jerry wants to make it happen but Stephen Jones is (once again) saving Jerruh from himself.
If you are a RB-needy team right now, would you honestly rather trade your 2015 first for a few years of expensive ass Adrian Peterson rental or draft a guy like Gurly and have him for the prime of his career on a rookie contract? Easy decision for me.
