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Adrian Peterson has been traded from the New Orleans Saints to the Arizona Cardinals for a conditional pick, according to ESPN’s Dianna Russini.
What does this mean for the Saints? Peterson never quite fit in at New Orleans. He played just nine snaps in the team’s opener against the Vikings, and his role never really changed. Alvin Kamara and Mark Ingram have received the majority of the snaps out of the backfield for Sean Payton’s team this season.
“Of course, anger has always been a part of it. When you're a competitor like I am, you're angry when you're not in there,” Peterson said, via ESPN’s Mike Triplett in early October. “But you're happy for the guys that are in there when they're being successful and able to accomplish good things.”
Peterson’s anger showed on that Week 1 Monday night game when he was clearly saying something in the direction of Sean Payton, followed by a death stare.
Things clearly weren’t going to get better there for Peterson, and the Saints are able to get a conditional pick out of it. He wins, and they win.
What does this mean for the Cardinals? They can hope that Peterson works out in their backfield. They lost David Johnson for the season, after suffering a wrist injury that required surgery during the team’s Week 1 loss to the Lions.
The Cardinals are 2-3 on the season, but haven’t had much luck on the ground since Johnson’s injury. Chris Johnson is currently their leading rusher with 114 yards, and Andre Ellington is second with 49 yards. The team is 32nd in the NFL in rushing, so giving Peterson a shot couldn’t hurt them any more.
Peterson’s coming off of a 2016 season in which he played just three games. His last full season came in 2015, where he rushed for 1,485 yards and 11 touchdowns. However, he’s 32 now, and at the running back position, that’s rather old. He could see more work in Arizona with the lack of talent at running back, but it’s still uncertain what he will provide for their rushing attack.