Adrian Peterson Reaches Plea Deal In Court Case

EDIT: We have the video right here if you want to watch Adrian Peterson entering his plea.

In their efforts to provide more for your entertainment dollar than any other sports franchise on the planet, the Minnesota Vikings have given all of us something to talk about during the team's bye week.

If you haven't heard the news yet, running back Adrian Peterson has reached a deal in his court case in Montgomery County, Texas. Peterson, who had been facing felony charges of causing injury to a child, will instead face one misdemeanor assault charge, to which he will plead "no contest."

A plea of "no contest," or nolo contendere, means that Peterson does not admit guilt in the matter, but also does not dispute the facts brought forth in the indictment against him. When the plea is entered in court, the judge will immediately sentence Peterson, who will avoid jail time for the incident and could face, at most, some form of probation, community service, and a fine.

As we said on Sunday when news of this potential plea deal first came out, the burden will now shift to the National Football League as to what to do with Peterson. He has already been suspended for eight games, albeit with pay, after being placed on the Commissioner's Exempt list during Week 2 of the NFL season. Only Roger Goodell can remove Peterson from the list, which one would assume would happen shortly after today's court session takes place.

From there, nobody knows what Goodell and the NFL might do. Would they suspend him further? You could make the case that Peterson has already been off the field for eight games, and a suspension under the league's new policy on domestic violence calls for six. You could also make the case that the NFL might not see a "with pay" suspension as any sort of punishment and keep him off the field longer, as well as fine him.

Peterson is set to appear in court at 1:30 PM Central time. At that time, the plea will be entered and the sentence handed down. Beyond that. . .well, I guess that's what the bye week is for.

We'll have any news on this story for you as it becomes available.