Minnesota Vikings Reverse Course, Adrian Peterson Will Now Remain Away from Team

The Wilf family and the Minnesota Vikings reversed their course from Monday’s decision to reinstate Adrian Peterson in the face of harsh criticism, announcing in the middle of the night that they were placing Peterson on the Exempt/Commissioner’s Permission List. As a result, Peterson will remain away from team activities while he resolves legal proceedings against him on charges of child abuse. The full statement:

"“This has been an ongoing and deliberate process since last Friday’s news. In conversations with the NFL over the last two days, the Vikings advised the League of the team’s decision to revisit the situation regarding Adrian Peterson. In response, the League informed the team of the option to place Adrian on the Exempt/Commissioner’s Permission list, which will require that Adrian remain away from all team activities while allowing him to take care of his personal situation until the legal proceedings are resolved. After giving the situation additional thought, we have decided this is the appropriate course of action for the organization and for Adrian. We are always focused on trying to make the right decision as an organization. We embrace our role – and the responsibilities that go with it – as a leader in the community, as a business partner and as an organization that can build bridges with our fans and positively impact this great region. We appreciate and value the input we have received from our fans, our partners and the community. While we were trying to make a balanced decision yesterday, after further reflection we have concluded that this resolution is best for the Vikings and for Adrian. We want to be clear: we have a strong stance regarding the protection and welfare of children, and we want to be sure we get this right. At the same time we want to express our support for Adrian and acknowledge his seven-plus years of outstanding commitment to this organization and this community. Adrian emphasized his desire to avoid further distraction to his teammates and coaches while focusing on his current situation; this resolution accomplishes these objectives as well. We will support Adrian during this legal and personal process, but we firmly believe and realize this is the right decision. We hope that all of our fans can respect the process that we have gone through to reach this final decision. -Zygi Wilf and Mark Wilf”"

The move comes after one of the team’s sponsors, Radisson, pulled their sponsorship after their logo was displayed prominently in the press conference where GM Rick Spielman announced that Peterson was returning after being inactive on Sunday, immediately after the news of the indictment emerged. Adam Schefter and Trent Dilfer both publicly called out the Wilfs, and here at our site, I wrote about the dangerous message that was sent by the way that Minnesota sold the return on Monday.

My guess: this is able to get resolved fairly quickly, before the end of this current season, with pressure to return prompting action rather than delay from Peterson’s perspective. The defense was always going to be about mitigating charges, and in light of some factors, such as his first time being charged with such an offense, information that has come out about family history in regards to this type of discipline, they’ll be able to resolve charges if the prosecutor will consider a plea bargain that does not involve jail time.