Prosecutors in Montgomery County, Texas, have filed paperwork to have Adrian Peterson's bail revoked and the Minnesota Vikings running back re-arrested after he told a drug tester that he had recently smoked marijuana before taking a urinalysis test Wednesday.
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Adrian Peterson's latest legal issue makes it less likely that he'll ever play for the Vikings again, Ben Goessling writes. Story"In light of this statement, and the fact that it was made during the urinalysis testing process, and the term 'weed' is a common slang term for marijuana, the state argues that the defendant has smoked marijuana while on bond,'' the district attorney's office wrote.
Peterson has been free on $15,000 bond on a charge of felony child abuse. A trial has tentatively been set to begin Dec. 1.
There cannot be any action on the bond revocation or any arrest warrant issued before a hearing is held on whether the judge hearing Peterson's case should be recused. No hearing has been scheduled and likely won't happen until next week at the earliest.
Prosecutors have asked that the judge hearing the Peterson case be removed after a remark he made about attorneys.
On Wednesday, Peterson's attorney, Rusty Hardin, urged the public not to "rush to judgment" with his client, who is accused of striking his 4-year-old son with a switch.
Peterson did not enter a plea during Wednesday's hearing, but Hardin has said his client intends to plead not guilty.
If he is convicted on the child abuse charge, Peterson could face six months to two years in state prison, though he could be placed on probation as a first-time offender. He also could be subjected to NFL discipline under the league's enhanced domestic violence policy, which can suspend players for up to six weeks.
Peterson has been on the NFL's exempt/commissioner's permission list since Sept. 17, and he is receiving his full $11.75 million salary. Yet he is barred from all team activities until his case is resolved.
If the Vikings are going to keep Peterson beyond this year, they will again have to consider the finances, and much more.
He is due to make $12.75 million in 2015 as a 30-year-old running back, and the Vikings would have to count just $2.4 million of dead money against their salary cap if they were to release him.
There's plenty of rumbling in league circles that if the Vikings did part with Peterson, it would be through a trade rather than a release. While another team would have trouble absorbing Peterson's contract, that problem could be solved easily enough with an extension that cuts Peterson's overall salary, provides him some guaranteed money and spreads the cap hit out over several seasons that Peterson might never play.
The Vikings could use a similar approach to manage Peterson's crushing cap hit -- $15.4 million in 2015 -- and keep him on their roster. The question is, will they want to?
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