When most running backs are 35 years old, they are retired.
Then there’s Adrian Peterson, who is competing for a starting spot in Washington after combining for nearly 2,000 rushing yards over the last two seasons.
There will be plenty of competition. Derrius Guice should enter training camp healthy. The team drafted Bryce Love in 2019. And then there’s a veteran like Peyton Barber.
“I’ve always had the mindset of being open to competition,” Peterson said on a Zoom video conference via ESPN. “So I will embrace it the same way. People ask me that question all the time — ‘Man, the Redskins are really packing that running back room, huh?’ I’m like, ‘Yeah, they are.’ But hey … just gotta execute and produce.”
Peterson is under contract for $2.5 million in 2020 with a $3.25 million cap hit.
It’d be easy to think of Peterson as a possible cap casualty given his age, but his numbers indicate others.
In 2019, Peterson ran for 898 yards and five touchdowns while averaging 4.3 yards per carry, his best mark since 2015.