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Peter King: Source says Arizona Cardinals 'haven't had contact' with Minnesota about Adrian Peterson

The contract would make it a non-starter.

By Jess Root
Brace Hemmelgarn-USA TODAY Sports

The Arizona Cardinals and running back Adrian Peterson continue to be a national story. And yet, all that there appears to have been is speculation. After "chatter" there were talks and the Cardinals were willing to part with a second round pick for Peterson and a seventh rounder, Peter King has a new report in which a source says nothing has been going on.

King's source indicates Peterson's contract would make any deal impossible, but more importantly, "We haven't had contact with the Vikings about it, to the best of my knowledge," the source said.

The money left on Peterson's contract seems to be the huge issue.

"There is no way we could live with those numbers," the source told King. "We just got Larry Fitzgerald's contract under control. No way we'd add that salary."

Plus, the King article says Arizona has interest in some running backs in this year's draft class.

Of course they would not add Peterson at his current salary. There would always have to be a contact restructure. Some reports have said Peterson is willing to do so for Arizona.

It would still be big money. He reportedly requires $25 million guaranteed in three years. There are ways to make this manageable. Make it a four-year deal. Give him $12 million up front. Pay him $13 million over the next three years -- $3 million in 2015 and $5 million each of the following two years. His cap hit in 2015 would be $6 million and the $8 million each of the following two years. If let go after that, you would have a $3 million dead money hit in 2018.

There are always ways to make the money work.

To me, the most important part of all this is how the Cardinals have not even contacted Minnesota about a possible deal. There is no report that has Minnesota actually making Peterson available.

Once he is available, certainly general manager Steve Keim will pick up the phone and have a discussion with the Vikings.

Until then, all this is simply fun speculation for a team that really wants to win a Super Bowl. While Adrian Peterson would make the team better, it would not guarantee a Super Bowl win, a Super Bowl berth or even a division championship.

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