Patrick Peterson stirs rumors of potential trade with online behavior

Arizona Cardinals cornerback Patrick Peterson is stirring rumors that a move may be in the works if his online behavior is pointing to such a thing.

For a season, the phrase “Patrick Peterson trade rumors” was a thing. Fans of the Kansas City Chiefs and other cornerback needy teams were searching that particular phrase on Google and refreshing Twitter feeds to see if there was anything of substance at work. In the end, it was all for naught.

These days, it might be time to search for those particular words again, and the same teams might once again be interested. It is Patrick Peterson we’re talking about, after all.

The trade demands initially started because Peterson spoke them. The Cardinals were a pitiful franchise in 2018 and began the year with a single win in their first 7 weeks. Peterson, the team’s best defensive player and potential Hall of Fame candidate, demanded a mid-season trade before the deadline. Adam Schefter broke the news and Peterson retracted his statement.

After the season was over, Peterson not only apologized to Cardinals faithful but actually pledged an allegiance of sorts to the organization. “I’m here to stay, baby,” said Peterson.

On Monday night, Peterson’s social media accounts began to tell a different story. The first one on Instagram simply states, “I see where we STAND!”

From there, Peterson posted a song clip from Drake’s “Duppy Freestyle” which opens with the line, “I’m in shock. The nerve. The audacity.” Finally there’s a long sigh before Drake says, “Okay.” Peterson includes his own caption of “Wow!”

From there, Peterson made one more post, at least on Instagram, showing a dated picture of the Cardinals secondary with the caption, “My boys told me to watch out for the snakes in the long grass!” Included in that picture is former Cardinals players like Justin Bethel (now with the Baltimore Ravens) and Tyrann Mathieu (now with the Chiefs).

What does any of this mean? It’s certainly not a stretch to imagine that something is in the works that has shocked Peterson. His own Instagram profile picture in a Cards uniform has been replaced and he’s clearly upset over something. Has he been traded? If so, to which team?

What makes this exciting for Kansas City Chiefs fans is that Peterson is the missing link to a defense in transition. Yes, there are needs at every level, including edge rusher, all over at linebacker, and cornerback and safety both. But it’s at corner where the need for quantity and quality both exist. Importing one of the NFL’s best overall cornerbacks is a nice way to solve the biggest problem on the roster. In fact, it’s a masterstroke.

Let’s not forget that the Chiefs have more draft capital with an extra second round pick this year and next year thanks to the trades of Marcus Peters and Dee Ford in consecutive offseasons. K.C. also has money to handle the last couple years of Peterson’s 5-year, $70 million contract. In fact, his cap hit compared to his quality of play is one of the NFL’s better overall bargains, which means the Chiefs might even be willing to extend him another year or three at going market rate to satisfy him after such a shock.

All of this is conjecture however. We’re reading the tea leaves of social media posts, and that’s a dangerous game. Is there smoke? Yes. Is it meaningful? No way of knowing. But the Chiefs are in prime talks to import an expensive player from someone and Peterson makes a whole lot of sense.