The Facts: Peterson has said he'd like to stay with the Vikings. Teammate Chad Greenway thinks there's a good chance Peterson won't be back. Much more will be known soon. Peterson's contract pays him a $6 million roster bonus on March 11. Once the Vikings make that payment, they'll be as a practical matter locked in for another $12 million in salary ($11.75 million) and workout bonus ($250,000).

Diehards Line: So, as PFT's Mike Florio explained, if Peterson is going to be squeezed to take less, the time to squeeze is now. Which means the questions will be: (1) how much less than $18 million will the Vikings offer?; (2) how much would another team be willing to pay?; and (3) would Peterson be willing to force his release so that he then could sign a new contract with the Vikings or someone else whenever he wants? Appearing on ESPN Thursday morning, Peterson tabbed his hometown Texans, Bucs and Giants as teams he has interest in. Florio went on to note that Peterson has made it clear that he doesn’t like the grind of the offseason program and training camp. He could avoid much of it by becoming a free agent and picking his next destination later in the year. Whatever the case, this will be a top storyline all offseason long.