We've finally gotten some more accurate numbers about the sparkling new contract extension that Adrian Peterson agreed to with the Minnesota Vikings today. To borrow a line from one of our favorite TV shows, these numbers are real. . .and they're spectacular.
According to our close, personal friends at Pro Football Talk (™ Sid Hartman), Peterson will get paid a whopping $40 million in the first three years of his new extension. That surpasses the $31 million that Tennessee Titans' running back Chris Johnson will get from the deal he signed a little more than a week ago, and the $30 million that DeAngelo Williams of the Carolina Panthers will receive over the same period of time.
Peterson will get $52 million over the first four years of the deal, and $65 million over the first five. Comparatively, Johnson will get $39 million over the first four years, and $47 million over the first five. (Kind of makes you wonder if Johnson will hold out again next year, doesn't it?)
As we've mentioned previously, long-term contracts for running backs are always a bit of a precarious situation, as the shelf life for a running back is usually pretty short. It will be interesting to see how the Vikings handle things in the fourth and fifth years of the contract, when the guaranteed money will (likely) be next to nothing, and they will seriously have to weigh Peterson's production against his paycheck.