Vikings Sign Peterson

The Vikings have reached a contract agreement with Adrian Peterson that initial reports say could be the richest RB deal in the history of the NFL.

It took LaDainian Tomlinson years of being one of the NFL's top running backs to get the league's richest contract. It took one stroke of the pen for Adrian Peterson to get that done.

Within the last hour, Peterson has agreed to what VU has been told is a five-year deal that, if completed, will be worth $40 million, including $17 million in guaranteed money.

If those numbers prove accurate, it would surpass the contract signed last year by Tomlinson and will make Peterson the highest-paid running back in NFL history.

Peterson wasn't in Mankato for Sunday afternoon's practice, but he is expected to get his paperwork done at Winter Park early Sunday evening and be in Mankato by about 10 p.m. Head coach Brad Childress said Peterson will get a once-over from the doctors and may or may not have to run a conditioning test.

"We’ll see how he shows up. We don’t want to be ogres. The kinder, nicer Brad Childress doesn’t want to be an ogre. We want to be smart and make sure he can do the things he needs to do," Childress said.

Childress said Peterson won't be hazed for missing five practices, but he though veteran fullback Tony Richardson would have something for Peterson.

"Tony Richardson will find something for him because he was hazed pretty well. It won’t be excessive, I’m sure. He might have to pick up the check down at Chipotle or something like that," Childress said.