Adrian Peterson won't be another Emmitt or Edgerrin for Cardinals

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Adrian Peterson is desperate to revive his Hall of Fame career. The Cardinals are desperate to find someone who can run the ball. That's about the only reason the team's Tuesday trade for Peterson makes any sense.

Peterson got his wish to get out of New Orleans after the Saints sent him to Arizona for a conditional draft pick. But after David Johnson was lost in Week 1 and Peterson's fellow former 2K rusher Chris Johnson was running on empty, the Cardinals didn't just magically solve their backfield problems.

Sean Payton and the Saints' committee approach weren't to blame for Peterson's poor play and little playing time in his four games with the team that signed the 32-year-old late in 2017 free agency. Rookie Alvin Kamara has been the team's most dynamic back, and Mark Ingram remained its most dependable.

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Unfortunately, those two adjectives no longer apply to Peterson. Like with even the best high-volume backs, years of heavy mileage can lead to a sudden decline. It's more so in Peterson's case, as he always ran hard with every Vikings carry and also had to deal with major injury along the way.

The Cardinals are holding out hope that history will repeat itself for Bruce Arians, given what happened for his offensive-minded head-coaching predecessors, the late Dennis Green and Ken Whisenhunt.

In 2004, Arizona provided the final NFL stop for Cowboys legend and NFL all-time leading rusher Emmitt Smith. In his second and final season with the team under Green at age 35, Smith managed to rush for 937 yards and nine TDs as his league swan song.

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Green then got right back on that aging veteran train with former Colts great Edgerrin James in '06. James, then 28, gave Arizona two solid full rushing seasons under Green and Whisenhunt. In his third, at age 30 in '09, he helped the Cardinals get to the Super Bowl while returning healthy in the playoffs.

But this is a different era, and Peterson is a different back. Smith was on a team caught in transition and was an average stopgap. James was useful late in his career thanks to the versatility as a pass catcher he carried over from his earliest, most prolific days in Indianapolis. While James and Peterson will one day join Smith in Canton, that's the only applicable and appropriate comparison.

Peterson couldn't stand out in the Saints' committee behind a good offensive line and Drew Brees opening things up downfield in the passing game. Now he goes to a team with a much worse front and and a much lesser aging QB in Carson Palmer.

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The Cardinals wear being "the oldest team in the NFL" as a badge of honor under Arians, and it's impressive how several of their reclamations have worked out, such as Palmer, Dwight Freeney, Karlos Dansby and most recently, Antoine Bethea. Their most venerable current player, Larry Fitzgerald, continues to deny Father Time.

But looking at Peterson, he simply gets filed under Chris Johnson, who has lost all the explosiveness and speed that once made him a premier feature back in Tennessee, falling hard to injury as well in Arizona.

The Packers and Vikings have had recent backfield injury issues, but they continued to have zero interest in Peterson, just like in the offseason. The Seahawks took a chance on Eddie Lacy instead. The Raiders preferred bringing Marshawn Lynch out of retirement.

The NFL is a cruel business to formerly great backs. Even when getting a job, Peterson learned that the hard way in the Big Easy. Going to the desert won't be an oasis for him — it will provide more difficult evidence that even All Day can dry up fast.

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Vinnie Iyer is an NFL writer at The Sporting News
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