Adrian Peterson should retire with Vikings, GM says

If the Minnesota Vikings have their way, Adrian Peterson will finish off his Hall of Fame career where it started.

Speaking about the star running back's contract situation in an appearance on Sirius XM NFL Radio, general manager Rick Spielman gave an emphatic "yes" when asked whether he still wants Peterson to retire a member of the Vikings.

"Right now, we're assessing everything," Spielman added. "We're assessing our whole football team. But Adrian Peterson is under contract with the Minnesota Vikings next year. He's been a valuable part of our organization, I think he's a Hall of Fame running back, and we're just going through the process. But we have to evaluate everything."

Peterson has said that he sees himself remaining with the Vikings for the rest of his playing career, so Spielman's comments would appear to indicate that there's some mutual interest in making it happen.

What remains to be seen is whether the two sides can reach a revised contract agreement.

As things currently stand, the Vikings have an $18-million option on Peterson for the 2017 season. The chances of Minnesota keeping the soon-to-be 31-year-old on the roster at that astronomically high cap hit are virtually non-existent, but there's a possibility that a deal more in line with his market value can be negotiated to keep him away from free agency.

Peterson, a first-round pick in the 2007 draft, is far and away the Vikings' all-time leader in every major rushing category now 10 seasons into his NFL career.

Despite missing the majority of both the 2014 and 2016 campaigns due to injury, he'll enter next year with an impressive 11,747 rushing yards and 87 total touchdowns on his resume.