Adrian Peterson probably doesn’t have the big free agency market he says he does

If you’re to believe Adrian Peterson’s dad, there’s a market for his son that will yield big contract numbers when free agency begins.

Nelson Peterson told the St. Paul Pioneer Press in February that his son Adrian could land with the Green Bay Packers, Oakland Raiders or New England Patriots. That added three more potential contenders in the mix after Adrian Peterson told ESPN in January that he could wind up with the New York Giants, Houston Texans or Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Now, with free agency set to begin Thursday, Nelson Peterson is continuing to tell reporters about the seemingly wide range of options that will soon be available to his son, including the Seattle Seahawks or a return to the Vikings in 2017:

Despite the fact that Peterson is two weeks away from his 32nd birthday, just about every major Super Bowl contender has been linked to the running back, including the Dallas Cowboys even though it hardly makes any sense.

And every one of these rumors have seemingly come directly from Peterson or his dad.

Rumors in the other direction haven’t been as fruitful. While Nelson Peterson mentioned the Patriots as a possibility, Mike Garafolo said “there is nothing going on” between the running back and the defending Super Bowl champions.

The reality is that Peterson getting an even halfway-decent contract looks unrealistic, though. According to Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk, the market is so soft for the longtime Vikings running back that his best option may be to wait out the offseason and sign with a team closer to the beginning of the season.

His 11,747 career rushing yards and 97 touchdowns mean Peterson will undoubtedly land in the Pro Football Hall of Fame, but that hasn’t meant much for similar players, historically.

Many of the greatest running backs of all time have quietly and unceremoniously ended their careers in different uniforms. Players like Emmitt Smith and LaDainian Tomlinson went elsewhere and played at a discount price to finish their career.

A year ago, 30-year-old Matt Forte signed a three-year, $12 million deal with the New York Jets. While his career numbers pale in comparison to Peterson’s, he was two years younger and not nearly as many injury concerns.

Peterson missed almost all of the 2016 season with a knee injury that required surgery and he has also had previous surgeries for a hernia, ACL tear and shoulder injury.

It also doesn’t help him that there are three running backs likely to go in the first round of the 2017 NFL Draft and even the highest-paid running backs in the NFL get significantly less than most other positions.

While Nelson Peterson is selling the idea that many Super Bowl contenders will be in the market for his son, the reality is that Adrian Peterson appears unlikely to receive even $4 or $5 million per year in free agency.