Adrian Peterson: Steelers Reached Out About Signing Before Last Season

Adrian Peterson started last season in black and gold as a member of the New Orleans Saints, but there was apparently interest from a club that would have had him donning black and yellow in 2017.

"For instance, with Pittsburgh," Peterson told Yahoo Sports' Kimberley A. Martin. "I know that organization, as far as their talent evaluators, they know that I've got something. A lot of people don’t know this because it’s not something that I talk about, but before I signed with the Saints, they were a team that reached out. I just never said anything to anyone about it because I was already locked in and knew that I wanted to sign with the Saints. But Pittsburgh was a team that kind of reached out as well."

Peterson's stint in the Big Easy lasted all of four games before he was shipped to the Arizona Cardinals for a conditional sixth-round pick. There, the NFL's 10th all-time rusher served as a fallback option after David Johnson was ruled out for the season because of a wrist fracture.

In all, Peterson racked up 448 yards and two touchdowns on 129 carries in the desert before he landed on the injured reserve himself with a neck injury.

Disappointing as that fragmented season was, 2018 has been far kinder to Peterson thus far.

Through his first three games with Washington, the 33-year-old ranks fifth among all rushers with 236 yards on the ground. His three rushing touchdowns are also tied for fourth among all players.

"If I didn't have an offensive line in front of me, I wouldn't have the success that I've had with the Redskins now," Peterson said. "In Arizona, that was probably the worst offensive line I've played behind in my entire career. And that was due to a lot of injuries and things like that. I'm mindful of that, but people aren't."

Peterson—who sprained his right ankle in Washington's 31-17 win over the Green Bay Packers on Sunday—is expected to be ready to roll when the team returns from its bye week and travels to New Orleans for a meeting with the Saints in Week 5.