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USA TODAY Sports

Vikings fans may have gotten used to seeing Adrian Peterson in a suit rather than a uniform, and being that far removed from what he can do on the field makes it easier to let him go.

Peterson is a special athlete. Though he's 30 years old, there's reason to believe he can last longer than a typical running back.

That's illustrated by both the eye-popping medical fact that the utter lack of wear and tear on Peterson's joints awed his extremely experienced sports surgeon James Andrews, and his stunning recovery from surgery provides evidence that Peterson is more than a typical running back aging curve, especially as he hasn't shown signs of decline thus far in his career.

With all that said, the Vikings need to find a way to offload him and find trade value in the process. There are very likely other teams around the league that not only believe the running game's importance, but also Peterson's unique capabilities. Thus, they can provide Minnesota with compensation that matches the strength of that belief.

Minnesota is unlikely to make a serious run at the Lombardi trophy within Peterson's window as an elite back, and it serves the Vikings better to find the value they can in him now instead of later when he wouldn't provide any trade value at all.

Replacing Peterson isn't necessarily easy, but even if the Vikings can't find a running back who can grab 4.5 yards a carry on a consistent basis, finding one who can get more than 4.0 isn't too hard, especially because they already have one on the roster in Jerick McKinnon.

It's generally unwise to have a player on the roster who is openly hostile to the organization, especially when that player is a team leader. While Peterson's anger with the executives within the Vikings group may be justifiable, the kind of resentment it can stir up is not good for a football team.

Beyond that, there's the possibility, however remote, that Peterson may refuse to play for the team out of principle. His anger toward the Vikings seems genuine, and Peterson can easily be the kind of person who would sacrifice financial gain in order to make a larger moral point.

That there's a good chance he wouldn't run as well for a team he's uncomfortable with compared to an environment he'd be welcomed in is all the more reason Peterson should be traded while the Vikings can grab value.