Adrian Peterson traded to Cardinals, Lions avoid veteran RB

Adrian Peterson has long been a thorne in the Detroit Lions’ side throughout his 10-year career. It appeared the Lions would have to deal with him yet again in 2017, when the New Orleans Saints signed the veteran back to a two-year deal this offseason.

However, on Tuesday morning the Saints traded Peterson to the Arizona Cardinals for an undisclosed conditional draft pick, as first reported by ESPN’s Dianna Russini:

The Lions were set to face off against Peterson and the Saints this week, but now Detroit won’t have to face the running back who has ran for 1,490 yards (5.27 YPC) and 11 touchdowns against them throughout his career.

Of course, Peterson hasn’t exactly lived up to his legendary status in 2017. In four games, he has just 27 rushes for 81 yards (3.0 YPC) with the Saints and has failed to reach the end zone. In fact, Peterson hasn’t scored a touchdown since Week 17 of the 2015 season.

However, the Cardinals could potentially put Peterson to use, since they lost David Johnson to a wrist injury suffered in Week 1 that resulted in surgery and a trip to the team’s injured reserve list. Arizona has since signed veteran Chris Johnson, but he has only averaged a paltry 2.5 yards per carry over the past four games. We’ll see if Peterson has anything left in him as the Cardinals face off against the Buccaneers on Sunday.