Running back Derrius Guice hopes to prove to Washington and the rest of the NFL that he’s able to remain healthy over the course of an entire season, but the team does not have to put all of its backfield eggs in that basket.
They have an option on Adrian Peterson’s contract for the 2020 season that would cost them $2.25 million in salary and $3 million in cap space. They’d get $2.25 million of that cap space back by passing on the option, but it doesn’t look like that’s the route they’ll go.
John Keim of ESPN.com reports that the team is likely to exercise the option and bring Peterson back for a third season. He’s run 462 times for 1,940 yards and 12 touchdowns in 31 games for Washington. The only game he missed came when former head coach Jay Gruden made him a healthy scratch in Week One last year.
Guice has appeared in five games while making three trips to injured reserve over his first two seasons. Chris Thompson, who led the team’s backs in receiving, is set for free agency.
