U.S. District Court Judge David Doty ruled in favor of Minnesota Vikings’ RB Adrian Peterson on Thursday, reinstating the 2012 NFL MVP.
Peterson was facing a suspension until at least April 15 for his role in child abuse.
“This is a victory for the rule of law, due process and fairness. Our collective bargaining agreement has rules for implementation of the personal conduct policy and when those rules are violated, our union always stands up to protect our players’ rights. This is yet another example why neutral arbitration is good for our players, good for the owners and good for our game”, the NFLPA said in a statement.
Now, the Vikings must begin the process of what they will do with Peterson. Ben Dogra, Peterson’s agent, had to be separated from Vikings vice president Rob Brzezinski after a heated exchange regarding the star running back. Dogra claimed that Peterson would never play for the Vikings again, despite him still being on contract for this upcoming season.
If Peterson were to return under his current contract, he would once again be the highest paid back in the NFL and believes he should not take a pay cut. He is set to make a base salary of $12.75 million in 2015 and count $15.4 million against the Vikings’ salary cap. At age 29, turning 30 on March 21st, Peterson firmly believes he will be better than he was.
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