Pelissero: Biggest contract ever is motivation enough for Adrian Peterson

Dear members of the Twin Cities sports media:

Can we drop this Adrian Peterson vs. Chris Johnson nonsense now? Please?

By all means, debate amongst yourselves if you must. Discuss it over beers. Stay up until 3 a.m. crunching the numbers before your fantasy draft.

But pretty please, with sugar on top, stop asking Peterson the same awkward, unanswerable question he's faced at least once a week since training camp.

Uh, Adrian ... some people are saying this Johnson guy in Tennessee is the best running back in the NFL ... but, obviously, you think you're, obviously, the best running back ... does that, uh, you know, like, motivate you to show you're the best?

"Not at all," Peterson said for 2,367th time on Monday in the Minnesota Vikings' locker room.

"Just my mentality -- I've got the mindset that I know that I'm the best. In my mind and my heart, I know that and I believe that."

Honestly, what the hell else do you expect him to say?

I get it. It's an easy storyline, a good sound byte.

But buying into this manufactured rivalry -- and reporting the blow-by-blow like it's Death Race 2010: Chase for the Rushing Title -- completely misses the most profound impact of Peterson's performance this season.

Adrian Peterson is playing for the biggest contract ever awarded to an NFL running back. And if checks were written right now, he'd get it, too.

I'm not suggesting Peterson isn't competitive. This is a guy known to challenge reporters to games of H-O-R-S-E on the Nerf hoop taped to the practice-squad lockers.

The fact remains that Peterson is 25 years old, his rookie contract will void after the 2011 season and it's unfathomable that he would play out the final year without long-term security at the position with the fastest depreciation rate in sports.

Due $3.64 million in base salary this season, Peterson already has unlocked $9.195 million in escalators to push his 2011 base salary to $10.72 million, with another $2.5 million still available. That's a pittance compared to the guarantee Peterson can expect on his second contract, uncertain labor situation notwithstanding.

St. Louis' Steven Jackson got $20.5 million guaranteed on the six-year, $44.805 million deal he signed in August 2008. Top-10 draft picks Reggie Bush of New Orleans ($26.31 million guaranteed in 2006), Darren McFadden of Oakland ($26 million in 2008) and C.J. Spiller of Buffalo ($20.8 million this year) all have exceeded that number on their rookie deals.

Think there's any chance Peterson sets foot on a football field next season with any less than $30 million guaranteed in pocket if he stays healthy -- and keeps playing like this?

Beneath the roar of the Metrodome crowd, the faint chime of a cash register provided the soundtrack for Peterson's fantastic 80-yard touchdown run on Sunday. He's on pace for 2,091 rushing yards and looks stronger, faster and smarter than ever.

Forget quarterback Brett Favre, whose $16 million take this season surely isn't lost on Peterson's representatives, either. The one man the Vikings can't afford to lose right now is Peterson -- which is one more reason to think he practically could pick a number out of thin air and the Vikings eventually would have to give it to him.

Whether analysts and observers consider Peterson (6-foot-1, 217 pounds) No. 1 or No. 2 largely is irrelevant, especially since Johnson (5-11, 191) is a different breed of back.

"They do have some similar styles in terms of their slash abilities -- they're both home-run speed threats," an executive in personnel for an AFC team said. "But I think Peterson can be a more physical inline runner than Johnson. Johnson -- he can run inside, but he needs to catch a crease. Peterson actually has the ability to push the pile and lower his shoulder to gain yardage and break tackles."

There you go. One attuned insider's perspective on a talking point of "Tastes Great, Less Filling" import.

Now please, for the love of God, can we just let the man run?

Tom Pelissero is Senior Editor and columnist for 1500ESPN.com. He hosts from 6 to 8 p.m. weeknights and co-hosts from 10 a.m. to noon Sundays on 1500 ESPN Twin Cities.
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