Patrick Peterson, a veteran cornerback, appears to reach free agency on 2022. He is contractually bound to the Minnesota Vikings at least for four more games.
It’s rare for an employed NFL player to publicly declare his interest in joining a conference foe, yet that’s exactly what Peterson did following Minnesota’s Week 14 loss. That foe is the Dallas Cowboys and that interest is rooted in the 31-year-old’s childhood ambitions.
Growing up, I always saw myself being an NFL football player. My dreams were to be a Cowboy, but at the end of the day, that didn’t happen — still got time on the table because I still got some tread still left on the tires,” Peterson said during a December 10 press conference, “But I love the game, no matter who I’m playing for, and I’m going to bring that same intensity no matter the organization.”
Peterson is eight-time Pro Bowler, three-time All-Pro, and a talent that spanned 10 years in Arizona. He signed a $8 million prove-it, one-year deal with the Vikings last march. From the perspective of the team, the return on investment has not been very good.
Peterson, who was injured his hamstring, has only two pass deflections and zero interceptions in nine games. He is currently rated Pro Football Focus” No. 68 CB out of 118 qualifiers, with a below-average coverage grade of 58.4. Minnesota’s secondary has a total of 251.9 rushing yards per game, which is the league’s 10th worst.
“We will continue to build on things. There are still four games. We feel we can compete with the best. Peterson stated that there were only a few mistakes that cost them those games on December 10. “There are still four games in the season. You can still learn from these mistakes.
Peterson was very close to achieving his dream of wearing the star. According to The Athletic’s Dan Pompei, Dallas ” tried to get the former fifth-round pick. However, he decided to go to the Twin Cities and unite with Mike Zimmer, the defensive-minded Vikings coach.
“Once Peterson realized that the team he wanted to play for was not an option, he started looking at other options. He says that the Cowboys and 49ers tried to push him. Pompei wrote that there were talks with the Eagles.
“Zimmer didn’t believe the Vikings had a chance of signing Peterson. Peterson then asked his agent for Zimmer’s help. After they spoke, Peterson and Zimmer knew that they were a match.
The Cowboys did well despite Peterson’s rejection. This was due to Trevon Diggs’ breakout season as a sophomore CB, who is the NFL’s leading interceptor (9). Under Dan Quinn, the collective also holds the league’s lead in team intercepts (19) and fifth in total takeaways (23) – thriving.