Almost certainly no Adrian Peterson for the Buccaneers, reportedly

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers will not sign Adrian Peterson. At least, that’s what Rick Stroud of the Tampa Bay Times reports—while leaving a tiny, tiny possibility of this happening eventually, because the NFL is weird.

You never say never when it comes to personnel matters, but it's hard to be more definitive than to say Peterson is defintely NOT in the Bucs plans.

And, really, signing Peterson never made sense. As we keep saying: the Bucs have three running backs they like in Jacquizz Rodgers, Charles Sims and Mike James. Doug Martin’s future may be in doubt, and the Bucs still to be unsure about what to do with him, but he’s certainly still on the roster. If the team really wants to add another running back, the draft is filled with quality players at that position.

There just isn’t a ton of room for Peterson there, and that’s before we get to the fact that he’s clearly on the down side of his career, has suffered numerous long-term injuries in recent years, and 30+-year-old running backs tend to suck, even when they had a stellar career.

I don’t know, maybe Peterson will be the exception to the rule there. But there’s no reason for the Bucs to take that chance with an expensive contract.