Adrian Peterson's best interest not to play for Vikings, per agent

The situation with Adrian Peterson and the Minnesota Vikings continues to play out in the public. Peterson wants out. There are teams that want him. The Arizona Cardinals have been connected to the star running back as a potential landing spot. The Vikings publicly want him to remain with the team and hold leverage because he is under contract for three more years.

But Peterson's agent is working hard to make things difficult for the Vikings to keep Peterson.

Reporter Tom Pelissero spoke with Vikings owner Mark Wilf in Arizona on Monday. Wilf says Peterson "is an important part" of the team and is looking forward to having him play for the team in 2015.

Peterson's agent Ben Dogra sent a different message. As reported by Jason Cole, Dogra said, "I don't think it's in the best interests of Adrian Peterson to play for the Minnesota Vikings."

Since Peterson holds no actual leverage, since his play is to try and get out of town, his agent is now using every public tactic he can to put pressure on the team to move him via trade or release. The team has said it will not release him and trading him will prove difficult because the Vikings seem pretty set on their asking price and Peterson's contract is virtually untradeable, unless Peterson agrees to a restructured contract. Even then, the rumor is he wants $25 million in guaranteed money over three years.

The Cardinals have yet to address their running back position, which would suggest they are seriously considering making a move for Peterson.

While things do not appear to be headed to any sort of resolution, all things point to an ugly offseason. As Yahoo! Sports' Charles Robinson, who has been all over the story, tweeted on Monday, "the Adrian Peterson situation is going to get a lot worse before it gets better. (there are) plenty of bridges left to be napalmed."

Will that eventually lead to a trade to the Cardinals? That's what we get to see. The only question is how much fire we get to watch in the process.