The Minnesota Vikings are going to let running back Adrian Peterson test the free agent market, as the NFL team announced Tuesday it will not pick up the option on his contract for the upcoming season.
"Adrian is an important part of the Minnesota Vikings organization," general manager Rick Spielman said in a statement issued by the team. "We will continue to have conversations with his representatives and leave our future options open while determining what is best for both parties moving forward."
Peterson, who turns 32 in March, has spent his entire 10-year career with the Vikings and has an $18 million option for 2017, including a $6 million roster bonus due March 11. He will become an unrestricted free agent March 9.
"Finishing your career in one place [has value]," his father, Nelson, told ESPN recently. "I look at how Arizona treated Larry [Fitzgerald], how they are taking care of guys who have been there."
Peterson, the 2012 NFL MVP, is 16th all-time in rushing yards with 11,747 but has been limited to fewer than 40 carries in two of the past three seasons because of a torn meniscus and a suspension stemming from a child-abuse charge in 2014.
Peterson has said that he would like to stay in Minnesota, but told ESPN that he would consider the Houston Texans, New York Giants and Tampa Bay Buccaneers if he became a free agent.
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