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Report: Vikings want Adrian Peterson back next season

Tom Lynn / Reuters

Adrian Peterson's future in Minnesota got a lot murkier Thursday when he suggested a fresh start might be best for him and the Vikings. But according to NFL Network's Ian Rapoport, the team doesn't agree.

While Peterson is still weighing his options for next season, the Vikings want him back, Rapoport reports. 

Additionally, ESPN reports that Vikings ownership and general manager Rick Spielman have been heavily involved in an effort to have Peterson play this season, which indicates that they may welcome him back upon reinstatement. 

Peterson was suspended without pay for the remainder of the season for violating the NFL's personal conduct policy and is not eligible for reinstatement until April 15, 2015. The NFLPA appealed the decision, but few around Peterson expect him to win the appeal, Rapoport reports.

In an interview with Tom Pelissero of USA TODAY Sports published Thursday, Peterson said there are some within the Vikings organization that have not been supportive:

I know who loves me. The coaches and the players, it's not going to be a problem. I've felt so much support from those guys. The organization, I know there's people in the organization that support me and there's people that I know internally that has not been supporting me. Maybe it's best for me to get a fresh start somewhere else.

I would love to go back and play in Minnesota to get a feel and just see if my family still feels comfortable there. But if there's word out that, hey, they might release me, then so be it. I would feel good knowing that I've given everything I had in me.

According to ESPN's Adam Schefter, it is Vikings general counsel Kevin Warren who doesn't want Peterson back in Minneapolis. "Warren and the NFL have been working to make sure Peterson did not return this season, per sources familiar with the case," Schefter writes. 

Peterson's statement came as a surprise to head coach Mike Zimmer, who told ESPN he thinks Peterson wants to return to the team.

"You have to ask him. I don't know," Zimmer said. "But I know he does have an awful lot of people here who have supported him, and I don't know who he's speaking of who doesn't.

"All I know of Adrian is that he's always been great with me, always done what I've asked him to do, and I kind of go by what I see."

Peterson's appeal will be heard Dec. 2 by former NFL executive Harold Henderson.

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