Vikings Reportedly Will Meet with Agents of Adrian Peterson, Terence Newman

On Friday, Bleacher Report's Jason Cole reported the agents for running back Adrian Peterson and defensive back Terence Newman will meet with the Minnesota Vikings "to assess what the two sides will do going forward."

The Vikings hold a 2017 club option for Peterson, while Newman is an unrestricted free agent this year.

While the veteran Newman has been a solid player for the Vikings the past two seasons, Peterson is the headliner. Minnesota's current club option represents an $18 million cap hit, per Spotrac, but Ben Goessling of ESPN.com previously reported "it appears to be a virtual certainty that the Vikings would require a restructured contract for Peterson to return to Minnesota."

Peterson is one of the all-time greats, but he will be 32 years old during the 2017 season and played just three games last year because of a torn meniscus.

Still, he questioned why some doubt his ability to thrive again in the coming season considering he led the league in rushing in 2015 and ran for more than 2,000 yards in 2012 after a serious knee injury, per Josina Anderson of ESPN.

The numbers are impressive for the seven-time Pro Bowler, 2012 MVP and four-time member of the First Team All-Pro, but Michael David Smith of Pro Football Talk noted he averaged a mere 3.67 yards per carry in his final eight games of the 2015 campaign. Peterson also averaged 1.9 yards per carry in limited action in 2016.

He appears to be slowing down, and Smith cautioned, "There have been 25 running backs in NFL history who gained at least 1,000 yards at age 30. Only two of them, Walter Payton and Emmitt Smith, also gained at least 1,000 yards at age 32."

Perhaps Peterson sees the writing on the wall and knows his days in Minnesota are limited given his recent social media activity:

As for Newman, he earned a notable grade of 86.4 on Pro Football Focus' free-agency tracker, third among all cornerbacks.

He played 31 of 32 games for the Vikings the last two seasons and helped lead a secondary that finished third in the league in passing yards allowed per game in 2016. He may be 38 years old, but he is still a productive piece who can provide veteran leadership to younger corners such as Xavier Rhodes and Trae Waynes.