Patrick Peterson is Returning to the Minnesota Vikings on Another One-Year Deal
Veteran cornerback Patrick Peterson will be returning to the Minnesota Vikings for a second season, he announced on his podcast, All Things Covered. It's another one-year deal for Peterson in Minnesota, worth just $4 million this time around.
"It's me betting on myself again," he said.
"It's a great group of guys. I just felt like it was right to be there and grind with those guys. The team is stacked. We just couldn't put it all together in certain situations (last year). It wasn't the outcome we wanted, but we've got another crack at it. It's going to be fun to get back into the building and see all of this manifest."
Peterson had interest from numerous teams in free agency, but ultimately decided to return to the Vikings and run it back with many of his teammates from last year. He says he's excited about the addition of head coach Kevin O'Connell and edge rusher Za'Darius Smith, among other offseason changes. Peterson and his agent ended up getting something worked out with new Vikings GM Kwesi Adofo-Mensah.
Peterson, who turns 32 this summer, signed a one-year, $8 million deal with the Vikings last spring after spending a decade with the Arizona Cardinals. He played in 13 of 17 games, missing a chunk of time with a hamstring injury. Peterson played nearly 900 snaps and was solid in coverage, even if he only finished with one interception (a pick-six in the final game of the season).
In addition to being a smart, experienced outside cornerback, Peterson brings a lot to the Vikings in terms of leadership. He'll once again be able to mentor Cameron Dantzler and the other young corners on the roster, including a likely early-round draft pick at the position.
Peterson and Dantzler are currently penciled in as the starting outside corners, with Chandon Sullivan as the leading candidate to replace Mackensie Alexander in the slot.
Prior to joining the Vikings last year, Peterson established himself as one of the greatest cornerbacks of the 21st century during his ten-year run in Arizona. The 2011 No. 5 overall pick out of LSU made eight straight Pro Bowls to begin his career, was named a first team All-Pro three times, and stuffed the stat sheet with 28 interceptions, 91 passes defended, and nearly 500 total tackles as a Cardinal.
Now the future Pro Football Hall-of-Famer is back in Minnesota for another pursuit of a Super Bowl.
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