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Judge Rules In Adrian Peterson's Favor; Suspension Overturned
This might not suck. ... Fantasy football owners hoping to gain as much resolution on Adrian Peterson's future status as quickly as possible, just got good news: The running back's suspension of has been overturned. U.S. District Judge David S. Doty granted an NFLPA motion to vacate a previous ruling by the NFL’s arbitrator, Harold Henderson.

"Petition to vacate the arbitration award was granted," Judge Doty remarked, according to NFL.com. "Case was remanded for further proceedings ... as the (collective bargaining agreement) may permit."

As Profootballtalk.com's Michael David Smith wrote, "That means Peterson will be reinstated to the Vikings. It’s unclear whether he’ll play for the Vikings, get traded to another team or get released, but he now becomes an active NFL player and goes off the suspended list."

For the record, reinstatement isn't immediate. The case goes back to Henderson, but it appears reinstatement will come.

Smith went on to remind readers that Peterson has indicated that he does want to play this year, but the star tailback recently told ESPN.com's Ben Goessling he is "still uneasy" about the prospect of returning to the Vikings in 2015, saying the organization working with the NFL to put him on the commissioner's exempt list last September made him question how much support he had from the team.

Peterson called that decision an "ambush," adding, "There were people (in the organization) that I trusted, who knew exactly what was said, that weren't heard from" in the decision-making process. "They weren't able to do anything about it," Peterson said in an interview on Feb. 19.

All this despite the Vikings' ongoing efforts to pave the way for Peterson's return to the team through numerous comments from top officials this month.

Minnesota would very much rather have Peterson in its starting backfield than Matt Asiata or Jerick McKinnon. With the running back under contract for 2015 with a base salary of $12.75 million, the Vikings would have to either trade or release Peterson, if a breakup is what he desires.

NFL Network's Ian Rapoport, citing people who have spoken to Peterson, reported last week the back wants a fresh start.

According to Rapoport, the split would be achieved only by way of a trade, as the Vikings are not willing to release Peterson.

Prior to today's ruling, the soonest any of this could have been addressed was April 15. Now the process can begin immediately -- barring an appeal by the league.

The NFL says it will "review the decision" by Judge Doty to make Peterson immediately eligible.

According to NFL Network's Albert Breer, the league has the ability to seek a circuit court injunction to keep Peterson from being reinstated.

The NFL suspended Peterson on Nov. 18 stemming from a no contest plea on what the league called "an incident of abusive discipline" toward his 4-year-old son. Because the appeal was denied, Peterson was not eligible for reinstatement prior to April 15. The NFLPA that Henderson exceeded his authority by suspending Peterson.

UPDATE (2/26/2015 at 16:55 CT): The NFL is appealing the ruling. “[W]e believe strongly that Judge Doty’s order is incorrect and fundamentally at odds with well-established legal precedent governing the district court’s role in reviewing arbitration decisions,” the NFL said in statement released to PFT. “As a result, we have filed a notice of appeal to have the ruling reviewed by the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals. In the interim, Adrian Peterson will be returned to the Commissioner Exempt List pending further proceedings by appeals officer Harold Henderson or a determination by the Eighth Circuit Court.”

Stay tuned. I'll be following up as needed. Those interested should keep an eye on the News & Views section of the site for ongoing developments.