Adrian Peterson could be a great fit for the Seahawks if Seattle can afford him

Adrian Peterson is weighing his options in free agency, and he has a visit scheduled with the Seattle Seahawks on Sunday, according to ESPN’s Josina Anderson. There are plenty of possibilities for a new NFL home for Peterson, but the Seahawks would be a decent fit.

Signing with the Seahawks would reunite Peterson with Darrell Bevell, who was the Vikings offensive coordinator from 2006 to 2010. Peterson rushed for 1,341 yards and 12 touchdowns as a rookie in 2007, and he continued to be consistently productive throughout Bevell’s tenure in Minnesota.

Seattle’s rushing attack averaged 3.9 yards per carry last season. Based on the number of free-agent running backs the Seahawks have been linked to in free agency, the team isn’t content to go into next season relying on Thomas Rawls and C.J. Prosise to get it done on the ground.

The Seahawks met with Eddie Lacy on Saturday, and they will welcome Latavius Murray to Seattle on Monday. They also have plans to bring Jamaal Charles in for a visit, according to NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport.

Peterson is coming off a knee injury that kept him sidelined for most of the last season. At 31, it’s unlikely Peterson will be as productive as he was in his prime, but that could be fine in the Seahawks offense.

Seahawks coach Pete Carroll said at the combine that the Seahawks prefer to have multiple running backs featured in Seattle’s offense. It wouldn’t fall on Peterson to carry the whole load.

“I’ve always thought that’s really valuable when you can have two guys or three guys that you can work and we have not had any hesitation going back to our college days,” Carroll said. “If there’s a guy that’s so dominant that nobody else deserves the play time then you’ve got a great one. But I don’t think it’s any more so today than ever before. We have always been an advocate of like a 1-2 punch kind of formula.”

Peterson’s father, Nelson, told the Twin Cities Pioneer Press that his son is interested in the Seahawks and Raiders, but Oakland’s offensive line gives the Raiders an edge.

“What we personally like is (the Raiders’) offensive line,” Nelson Peterson said. “The offensive line, they haven’t been playing around. They haven’t been trying to get offensive linemen from the bottom of the barrel and trying to make them into something.”

Improving the offensive line is an emphasis for the Seahawks this offseason, and the key will be balancing the money the team needs to spend to shore up the line with paying a veteran running back.

The Seahawks have just over $16 million in cap space to work with this offseason. The team had its sights set on guard T.J. Lang, who would have filled a tremendous need, but he ended up signing with the Lions. The team already signed tackle Luke Joeckel, the second overall pick in the 2013 draft, to a one-year, $8 million deal.

With the running backs still available in free agency and the market moving slowly, not to mention Peterson’s age, Seattle may be able to add him for a reasonable price. If Peterson lands in Seattle, he should be a good fit for the Seahawks.