Dallas Cowboys: No Adrian Peterson, No Failure
For the Dallas Cowboys not to have Minnesota Vikings running back Adrian Peterson on the roster is far from a mistake. Some in the Dallas-Ft. Worth media have actually made that suggestion this week.
How in the world is a story that’s not over a failure?
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No, I don’t think the door is completely shut on Peterson playing for another team in 2015, but I will certainly concede that those odds are rather small.
Instead of stealing a page from Cowboys dynastic history, former Cowboys assistant Mike Zimmer, now head coach in Minnesota, has been quite adamant recently in stating that Peterson will play for the Vikings and only the Vikings next season, 0therwise, he won’t play at all.
That’s easy to say, but it might not ending up working out that way.
Now, I’m not trying to fan speculation that Peterson could still end up with the Cowboys. On the contrary, I’m simply stating that not having Peterson at this time is hardly a failure.
In fact, the greater mistake here is for Minnesota to think that a 30 year-old running back who will cost close to $13 million this season is the difference between themselves and NFC North division rival Green Bay Packers.
Between Peterson and Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers, who has the brighter future over the next 3-5 seasons?
This might be the single biggest reason that not having Peterson, especially at his current price tag, is anything but a failure. Having added Peterson at this point, or prior, would have been the kind of “at all costs” move that owner and general manager Jerry Jones might have made in past seasons. Moves that might have paid off for a season or two, but then would have severely limited the team in terms of forward planning and replenishment that’s just a fact of life in today’s watered-down NFL.
No, the Cowboys didn’t go overboard in making a play for Peterson.
You can bet that the Vikings brass were hoping that Jones would propose a “reverse Herschel Walker trade” scenario that gave the young Vikings not only immediate cap relief, but also lots of access to future talent via the NFL draft and possibly veteran players.
Instead, Jones and his rising franchise – unless your talking to Peter King of SI.com – stayed their course and landed the likes of Pro Bowl pass rusher Greg Hardy and at least three rookie prospects with first-round grades during and following the 2015 NFL Draft last month in Chicago.
The Cowboys have running backs and also one of the top offensive lines in the NFL, the latter category possessing both youth and a few Pro Bowl talents. There’s absolutely no need to overreact to the loss of “one hit wonder” DeMarco Murray, a fifth year veteran with well-documented injury history.
Once upon a time, Jones coveted a wide receiver with the Detroit Lions for at least a couple of seasons. In the end, Jones finally traded away a first, third and sixth round draft choice in 2008 for receiver Roy Williams, a legendary player from the state of Texas.
I’ll let you do the reflecting on how that worked out.
Having said that, it seems like Peterson, another legendary player from Texas, is best left alone.
Whether he ends up in Dallas this season, next season or never, Jones has certainly not failed in betting the farm on a player that earns a lot of money but doesn’t have much time left on the football field.