Minnesota Vikings: Report: No prison, $200,000 fine for Vikings' Peterson in expected plea deal

The Minnesota Viking might have received some good news. There’s a chance than their star running back Adrian Peterson could be making a return to the lineup sooner rather than later.

Reuters Media -- Probation, 80 hours community service and a $2,000 fine would be the only punishment facing Minnesota Vikings running back Adrian Peterson if a no-contest plea to misdemeanor reckless assault.

AdvertisementPeterson will appear Tuesday in a Montgomery County, Texas, courthouse where the plea is expected to be entered before Judge Kelly Case. According to ProFootballTalk.com, the plea will not include reference to family violence or violence against a minor.

If the plea deal fails, Peterson is expected to push for an expedited trial date, a goal of his defense team led by Rusty Hardin since the arraignment on charges of felony child abuse was held in the same courthouse.

Peterson maintained he was not trying to injure his 4-year-old son when he allegedly whipped the boy with a tree branch, inflicting visible wounds that surfaced before the arraignment.

Peterson was placed on the Exempt/Commissioner's Permission list in mid-September and is being paid his full salary of $11.25 million for the 2014 season.