In case you missed this yesterday, the Lions are being connected to free agent Adrian Peterson after some dominos fell in the running back market with Eddie Lacy signing with the Seahawks and Latavius Murray inking a three-year deal with the Vikings.
Jason La Canfora was one of the first to make this connection:
With Lacy landing in Seattle and Murray landing in Minnesota, would keep an eye on OAK, DET as possible landing spots for AP at right price
— Jason La Canfora (@JasonLaCanfora) March 16, 2017
SiriusXM also reported the possible link between the Lions and Peterson a couple of weeks ago:
Filed to SiriusXM: Adrian Peterson wants to take his time & not in a rush to sign. OAK, SEA, NE, DET, GB, and MIN are all possibilities.
— SiriusXM NFL Radio (@SiriusXMNFL) March 8, 2017
ESPN has already highlighted that the Lions may not even need Peterson if Ameer Abdullah is able to stay healthy form a season-long duo with Theo Riddick. It’s a Washington Post article though that really sheds some light on how hazardous it could be for NFL teams to sign a 32-year old running back with plenty of tread worn off the tires, a description that fits Peterson to a tee.
According to the WP, after suffering a torn meniscus in week 2, Peterson was only able to average 1.9 yards per carry. Granted he missed 13 games and the 1.9 stat may be a little deceiving, what’s not deceiving is the facts surrounding the dip in production for running backs over the age of 32.
Peterson averaged almost 20 carries per regular season game in his career, which equates to 315 attempts over a 16-game season. Running backs his age barely make it to half that amount. Since 1970, 27 rushers have carried the ball 160 or more times in a season after their 32nd birthday. Just seven have done it more than once. One of those ageless wonders is Frank Gore, who carried the ball at least 260 times for the Indianapolis Colts in each of the past two seasons, yet he topped the 1,000-yard mark only once (2016). But Gore, unlike Peterson, has not had any major injuries, suiting up for all 16 games in a season for six straight years.
Not only that, on average a running back over 32-years-old has accumulated just five starts over 14 total games played with 80 carries and 304 yards. FOR AN ENTIRE SEASON. 21 players have been included in this sample reports the WP with 11 of those backs failing to even reach 100 yards rushing on the year.
Unless there’s some crazy incentive-laden deal being thrown Peterson’s way it’s almost criminal to go out and give this guy a contract he or his agent will be happy with.
Oh yeah, then there’s the fact that AP is a total fucking dirtbag who beat the shit out of his young child.
