NFL Rumors: Will Vikings' Adrian Peterson's Legal Troubles Get Him Traded to Dallas Cowboys?

Sep 15, 2014 10:54 AM EDT

The Minnesota Vikings deactivated star running back Adrian Peterson for week two, becuase of the child abuse charges he faces. Now the team is trying to come up with a long term plan to deal with their wayward star.  

According to the NY Post the team has no plans to cut Peterson, but they are entertaining the idea of trading him.  

"An NFL source familiar with the thinking of the Vikings' ownership group said Sunday the only certainty is Peterson won't be released because of his shocking indictment Friday afternoon, " according to Bart Hubbuch of the Post.

"But everything else - including the long-shot possibility of a trade - is still on the table after the Minnesota star was arrested and jailed over the weekend for allegedly injuring his 4-year-old son last May by brutally beating him with a thin tree limb while the child was naked."

As new facts come in, it appears that Peterson was discipling the boy, after the boy pushed another child off of a video game the two were playing.  

If the charges hold up and Peterson is convicted, he could face up to 10 years in prison and a possible $10,000 fine.  

If Peterson is not convicted of the crime, it is doubtful he will face anymore punishment from the NFL, the Vikings, or otherwise.  

The Vikings missed the star running back on Sunday, in a blowout loss to the Patriots.  The final score from the game was 30-7, and Matt Asiata, only garnered 36 yards on 13 carries.  

The team has said they have no plans to cut Peterson like the Ravens cut Ray Rice after more evidience of his domestic violence issues surface last week.  Also, no decision by the Vikings has been made on whether to allow Peterson to play in week 3.

ESPN broke the story in early August that Peterson had contacted Dallas Cowboys' owner Jerry Jones about possibly playing for Dallas.  All parties involved agreed that the talks were nothing serious at the time, but it will be interesting to see if things change after the news of Petersons' troubles.  Peterson faces the charges in Texas, where the supposed abuse took place.

It's worth noting that the Cowboys are not having trouble with the running game, though, as Demarco Murray is playing great.  Also, although Peterson is a great back, his is thirty years old now, and most backs start to severely decline as they get older.