Adrian Peterson Willing to Sign with Saints: 'I'm Not Tripping over the Past'

Adrian Peterson's tenure last season with the New Orleans Saints consisted of just four games and included minimal playing time before he was traded to the Arizona Cardinals. However, the free agent remains open to potentially returning to the team this spring.

"Of course I would," Peterson said on Monday, per Josina Anderson of ESPN. "I'm not tripping over the past, plus it would be a different look."

The 33-year-old was released by the Cardinals in March.

Peterson signed a two-year deal with New Orleans last April, representing the first move for a player who spent the first 10 seasons of his career with the Minnesota Vikings.

Unfortunately, he was limited to 27 carries for 81 yards while falling behind both Mark Ingram and Alvin Kamara on the depth chart. He was traded to Arizona for a conditional sixth-round pick and had moderate success there, finishing with 448 rushing yards in six games.

The Oklahoma product ran for 134 yards and scored his only two touchdowns of his season in his Cardinals debut against Tampa Bay. Three weeks later, All Day ran for 159 yards against San Francisco.

Meanwhile, the Saints clearly made the right choice as Ingram and Kamara each topped 1,500 yards from scrimmage. The latter was named the league's Offensive Rookie of the Year for 2017.

A possible spot in the running back room opened up this month with the announcement of Ingram's four-game suspension for violating the league's policy on performance-enhancing drugs, but Kamara and sixth-round pick Boston Scott should be fine moving forward.

With that said, the Saints would have no problem re-signing Peterson if they decide to add a veteran running back. Per Mike Triplett of ESPN.com, head coach Sean Payton would "absolutely" consider signing the future Hall of Famer.

"This gets back to the notion that we had some type of any argument (on the sideline during Week 1) at Minnesota, which I still say there was none," Payton said. "I think a ton of him."

Although it doesn't seem like any sort of deal is coming soon, it's clear neither side would mind a fresh start in 2018.