On Sunday, the world saw limping towards the locker room, through an area of fans, in the brand-new stadium. It might have been the last image Vikings fans will ever see of Peterson in purple.On Wednesday, news broke that Peterson, arguably the franchise's greatest player, was going to have Dylan Larkin Women Jersey surgery on the torn meniscus he suffered against the . There are few humans capable of recovering like Peterson, but there is a reasonable timetable involving the word "months" on the table, with multiple reports pegging Peterson's return at 3-4 months. It could be worse: Josina Anderson of ESPN reports , which . Mike Zimmer conceded as much on Wednesday afternoon.It's currently late September, which means the most optimistic case for a Peterson return is Dec. 22 (three months from Thursday) with a realistic return of Luke Glendening Men Jersey Jan. 21 (four months from Thursday). The Vikings play their final regular-season game on Sunday, Jan. 1 at home against the . A suming he needs four months to be ready and a suming the Vikings don't make the Super Bowl without him, we could have seen the final carry for Peterson with the Vikings.He's one of the greatest running backs in the history of the NFL, but this injury is precisely why teams don't pay running backs past the age of 30 or 31 Jimmy Howard Kids Jersey . Look at the last four years for Peterson:YearAgeGamesCarriesYards/CarryTD2016312311.60201530163274.5112014*291213.60201328142794.510*Granted, he led the league in carries, rushing yards and rushing touchdowns in 2015, at the age of 30. But that's a lot of wear for a guy with one ACL tear already. Especially a guy who will be 32 years old this offseason and is owed a lot of money moving forward.Specifically, Peterson has a $6 million roster bonus due Luke Witkowski Men Jersey on March 9, 2017 and a salary of $18 million for the 2017 season. If the Vikings cut him before the roster bonus is due (the third day of the league year), they wouldn't carry any dead money on the cap and would free up $18 million in cap space. We've seen contractual i sues between these two sides come to an amicable resolution -- which resulted in Peterson's current contract -- but it's hard to fathom the Vikings paying a 32-year-old running back coming off a second major knee injury $18 million in the coming season. Johan Franzen Women Jersey Unle s Peterson is willing to take a pretty substantial paycut to remain with the only team he's ever played for, there is a very realistic chance he's played his last game with the Vikings.