In what is one of the biggest stories of the off season so far (yes, besides Tony Romo) Adrian Peterson being released by the Vikings has a lot of people debating, where will he end up. Well here are my top 5 landing spots for All Day in 2017.
#1 Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Tampa seem to make the most sense of any NFL team. Doug Martin is a solid back but a liability and his situation with the Bucks could change at any time. They also have enough cap space to accommodate a deal for AP, but more so than that, they have a young team that is ready to win now. All Day could be the final piece to push them over the top.
#2 New York Giants
New York are at number 2 on my list purely based on team need. The Giants badly need a running game, especially with the potentially declining play of Eli Manning. They have a defence that is capable of taking them to the Super Bowl, along with Odell Beckham Jr. making plays on offense, so AP could be the man to make this the NFL’s most complete team. The downside in this scenario is cap space – do they have any left after spending so much on defence? And with such a fantastic group of Running Backs in the upcoming draft, would a rookie be the better option?
#3 Philadelphia Eagles
I think that Philadelphia possibly makes the most sense of any team to go after Peterson. They have a good, young Quarterback in Carson Wentz who is crying out for some support on offense and a Hall Of Fame back such as AP would be perfect to get the run game going. They already have the defence in place and getting Peterson in free agency would allow them to draft big at Wide Receiver where they sorely need help to complete the offense. The big stumbling block here is the man himself – would he go to Phili?
#4 Oakland Raiders
My fantasy pick as a landing spot for AP has to be Oakland and it makes a lot of sense too. First of all, look at that monstrous O’ Line that he would be running behind, how scary would that be for opposing coordinators to deal with. Also if Latavius Murray goes then they need a power back to slot right in, they have the 2 young guns for passing downs and to stop Peterson being over worked and this team is definitely ready to win now. However, more importantly than all of that, how cool would it be to see Adrian Peterson don the famous Black and White jersey! The only problem I can see is, again, cap room. Yes the Raiders have plenty right now but they have other needs to address and they need to plan for resigning Derek Carr and Khalil Mack. AP would need to be on a short term, front loaded deal.
#5 Detroit Lions
And finally, my wild card pick – the Detroit Lions. Now I know the likelihood of AP joining a divisional rival is small, especially when he wants to win now and the Lions are, well the Lions, but think about it. If you were asked which team in football needs a running back, Detroit jumps out at the top of the list. They could make some additions ok defence in the draft to solidify that side if the ball and with a player like All Day, they wouldn’t be far away from being genuine contenders. I honestly can’t see this happening but this is the NFL and stranger things have happened.
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