MINNEAPOLIS -- The Minnesota Vikings might be in the market for a running back for the first time in a decade, and they will spend part of the week in Indianapolis getting to know a group of ball carriers that might contain a successor to Adrian Peterson, should the Vikings need one.

The Vikings announced Tuesday they will decline Peterson's 2017 option, making the long-expected decision not to pay him $18 million at age 32 or give him a $6 million roster bonus on the third day of the league year. General manager Rick Spielman said in a Tuesday statement the Vikings will "leave our future options open" with regard to Peterson. It's possible the team could still bring him back, either on a restructured deal before the league year begins on March 9 or with a new contract after Peterson is able to test the market.

If the Vikings' time with Peterson ends after 10 seasons, though, they'll be able to draw from a deep pool of candidates to replace him.

"Right now -- and this is pre-combine -- I think offensively, I think running backs is the strongest [class] I've ever seen," Spielman said last Thursday.

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The top players in the class -- LSU's Leonard Fournette and Florida State's Dalvin Cook -- figure to be long gone before the Vikings make their first pick of the draft in the second round. But in the right draft scenario, players such as Tennessee's Alvin Kamara, Stanford's Christian McCaffrey or Texas' D'Onta Foreman could be there for the Vikings with the 46th or 47th pick. Players such as Clemson's Wayne Gallman or Oklahoma's Samaje Perine could also be interesting options, with NC State's Matthew Dayes or Toledo's Kareem Hunt available later.

"What helps us, I believe, is that when the draft class is that deep, you weigh, 'Is it worth going back into the first round or because of the depth of the draft class, especially at those positions, is that going to push other areas that you may need down to you?'" Spielman said. "That's the part of trying to anticipate. I've already starting going through scenarios and once we have the draft board developed you start having kind of a feel for what can and potentially can't be there. But you have to do that in order to put these other pieces in place and what we potentially can do in free agency."

Vikings offensive coordinator Pat Shurmur's first NFL coaching stint was with a Philadelphia Eagles team that featured Brian Westbrook in its West Coast offense, and the ideal back for Shurmur's system is likely one who can catch the ball out of the backfield. That's what could make Kamara or Gallman attractive at various spots in the draft. Hunt caught 41 passes for 403 yards last season at Toledo while running for 1,475 yards.

There are other flavors of runners available, too. Foreman is a fierce runner at 248 pounds, and Oklahoma's Joe Mixon could be intriguing if the Vikings can draw satisfactory conclusions on Mixon's character issues. If Peterson does move on, however, it will likely be in part because the Vikings can dip into the draft and find their next option.