At Football Outsiders, guest writer Matt Scribbins has a really well thought out and written article on something that will never happen: the Vikings deciding to trade RB Adrian Peterson. Everything he said is true: the Vikings are aging, they weren't good in 2010, and it's best to trade him now at age 26 before he starts to decline in a couple years. And before the Vikings have to pay a ransom to keep him off the free agent market.
But those types of trades never seem to be made. The safest route for a GM and franchise is to keep the franchise player happy and healthy while he's still a franchise player. Plus it's hard to tell if the Vikings could even get market value for Peterson, who may be searching for a mega-contract once he hits free agency. Maybe in five years, Vikings fans will wish they're team had traded Peterson away while he still had a lot of trade value, but I can't imagine them wanting it now.