Report: Adrian Peterson Told Jerry Jones He Wants To Play For Dallas

In this week's ESPN The Magazine, Don Van Natta profiles Cowboys owner Jerry Jones. There's so, so much in there. It starts off with Jones dancing with Kate Bosworth, for goodness sake. But, yeah, this Adrian Peterson story is going to make some news on its own.

The scene: AT&T Stadium, the owner's suite, an intimate little afterparty following a George Strait concert, and Jerry Jones is "tipsy," pouring Johnny Walker Blue Label into plastic cups.

Then a man taps Jones on the shoulder, says Adrian Peterson wants to say hello and hands over an iPhone. Jones says hi to the Minnesota Vikings' star running back and listens, nodding but not smiling. "Well, I understand, Adrian," he says into the phone. The slanted smile returns. "I'd like that, too. ... Well, I love your story. I love your daddy's story. I've always respected what you've been about. I've always been a fan of yours."

Listening to half the conversation, it is obvious Peterson is telling Jones he wants to play for the Cowboys. Peterson, 29, is in the fourth year of a seven-year, $100 million contract that will pay him $11.75 million this autumn to play for the Vikings.

"Well, we'll see what we can do, if we can make that happen," Jones is now saying. "Hmm-hmm. ... I'd like that, too. ... Well, we're talking pig Latin here, but let's see if we can do that." Jones listens, nods and says again, "We're talking pig Latin here, but let's see what we can do about that. OK, Adrian, thanks."

Jones confirmed later that "Peterson told him he wanted to play for the Cowboys," according to ESPN.com, and that the two haven't spoken since. The Vikings had no comment on reports of the conversation when asked about it today. The NFL offered a no-comment as well.

(This is the part where all the tattletales start complaining about tampering. What is wrong with you people? This sort of stuff goes down all the time, but that's not even my objection. Why wouldn't you want Jerry Jones to be laying the groundwork to throw an obscene amount of money at Peterson—or perhaps a reverse-Herschel-Walker trade haul at the Vikings—for a running back who will soon be on the wrong side of 30?

Go read the rest of the profile, especially how Jones overcame his hard-on for Johnny Manziel.

Jerry Football [ESPN The Magazine]