Excuse me, Flo? What’s the rumor du jour?

It’s the rumor of the day.

Mmmmmm, that sounds good. . .I’ll have that.

Since, at least at the present time, it appears that Adrian Peterson is no longer a part of the Minnesota Vikings’ plans, Rick Spielman and company might have a replacement in sight already.

According to Draft Expert Tony Pauline (courtesy of our friends over at The Viking Age), the Vikings have expressed “a good deal of interest” in (soon-to-be) former Oakland Raiders running back Latavius Murray.

Murray played his college ball at Central Florida, and was a sixth-round pick (#181 overall) of the Raiders in the 2013 NFL Draft. He did not actually get on the field for the Raiders until 2014, and in three seasons carried the ball 543 times for 2,248 yards and 20 touchdowns. He scored 12 of those touchdowns in 2016, and put together a 1,000-yard season in 2015. In those three seasons, he also threw in 91 receptions for 639 yards.

The Raiders appear to be willing to let the 6’3”, 230-pound Murray test the free agency waters starting on 9 March. According to the folks at Spotrac, Murray’s market value is placed at around $6.7 million/year. . .which sounds like a lot until you remember that figure is less than half of what the Vikings were slated to pay Peterson for the 2017 season prior to declining his option.

Another thing that might make Murray an attractive option for Minnesota?

Top-graded pass-blocking RBs:



Jonathan Stewart, 85.3

Robert Turbin, 85.1

Rashad Jennings, 83.5

Latavius Murray, 83.5

DeMarco Murray, 82.4 — Pro Football Focus (@PFF) February 10, 2017

It would appear that would make Murray a legitimate three-down running back that’s looking for his second contract. . .or, in other words, exactly the sort of player that Rick Spielman seems to like to target in his forays into free agency.

A running back depth chart with Latavius Murray and Jerick McKinnon as a 1-2 punch would be a pretty formidable one, in my opinion. Throw in a draft pick from what is said to be a very deep draft class at running back, and the Vikings could manage a complete overhaul of their running back corps in relatively short order.