It is looking like Adrian Peterson will have a new team before the start of Thursday’s 2017 NFL Draft and that will put this entire saga behind him. Ian Rapoport of NFL Network and NFL.com is reporting that Peterson is closing in on a deal with the New Orleans Saints.The proposed deal would pay him 3.2 million in 2017 which would mean that Mark Ingram would still be the highest earning running back on the team. While this agreement has not been finalised, there is hope that it will come together before the draft.This move has to be looked at as an absolute win for the Saints who have quietly ensured that the high-powered offence around Drew Brees continues to keep on humming as the quarterback ages. A one two punch of Ingram and Peterson will make opponents respect the run.Ingram has been better in the past two seasons as a pass catcher, which would give Peterson a role where he could focus on early down runs and breaking through the goal line on short plays. He could also become a deadly weapon on third and short situations.His presence will allow the older back to end his career with a Super Bowl win. Although his individual statistics are some of the best that the league has ever seen, postseason success was hard to come by in Minnesota.Making the move so soon is risky as Peterson could have waited out the market and seen if any blue-chip contenders lost their starting back in the early weeks of the season. This would have allowed him to swoop in and capitalize on such a situation as an established starter.In the end, the Saints must have been able to argue that with Peterson on board, there was no reason to believe that they couldn’t find a way back to the Super Bowl like back in 2009. Drew Brees and head coach Sean Payton are both strong presences that should make it easier for him.

Peterson played his college football at the University of Oklahoma, where he dominated as a runner and finished second in the Heisman Trophy voting back in 2004. That sort of success translated to his career up in Minnesota.

He made the Pro Bowl numerous times while with the Vikings, but his most famous moment remains tearing his ACL in 2011 and returning to rush for 2,097 yards in 2012 en route to both the MVP and Offensive Player of the Year.