The Sports Xchange

Running back Adrian Peterson plans to play for the Minnesota Vikings this season and beyond. As long as the Vikings are willing to pay for that right.

Peterson told ESPN that he did not request a trade and that any absence from Organized Team Activities should be viewed as a business decision, not a personal one nor a sign that he wants out of Minnesota.

“The reason I’m not attending OTAs has nothing to do with wanting to be traded,” Peterson wrote in the statement. “It’s about securing my future with the Vikings. It’s business, not personal and I understand that firsthand. Go Vikings.”

Peterson, who is owed $12.75 million for the 2015 season and $44.25 million over the final three years left on the existing deal, likely wants his agent, Ben Dogra, to receive financial assurances or boost the amount of guaranteed money in the deal to protect his future.

Peterson sacrifices $250,000 for not attending offseason workouts. The next scheduled workouts with mandatory attendance are June 16-18.

Peterson was responding to head coach Mike Zimmer’s comments on Wednesday that served as a virtual ultimatum for the 30-year-old running back.

“He’s really got two choices: He can either play for us or he cannot play. He’s not going to play for anybody else,” Zimmer said Wednesday at team headquarters in Eden Prairie, Minn., on the second day of organized team activities.

Peterson said in February he was “uneasy” about returning to the Vikings after spending most of the 2014 season on the commissioner’s exempt list.