Report: Patrick Peterson asked Cardinals to trade him before deadline

The Arizona Cardinals fell to 1-6 with their loss to the Denver Broncos on Thursday night, and first-year coach Steve Wilks promptly fired offensive coordinator Mike McCoy to promote Byron Leftwich, who has only been in coaching for a couple of years, to guide rookie quarterback Josh Rosen and the offense.

If the Cardinals are rebuilding, fans will have to be patient. But at least one player doesn’t want to wait that long.

Patrick Peterson reportedly wants out

Citing league sources, ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported on Monday afternoon that cornerback Patrick Peterson has asked the Cardinals to trade him by the NFL’s Oct. 30 trade deadline.

Peterson, Schefter tweeted, feels that the situation in Arizona is deteriorating, and “desperately” wants to get off what he views as a sinking ship.

The Cardinals, however, are insisting that they won’t deal Peterson, even as Peterson pushes to get out.

Wilks said flat-out on Monday, “We’re not trading Patrick.”

Who would and could get Peterson?

Knowing that a player of Peterson’s caliber — a three-time first-team All-Pro and seven-time Pro Bowler who is only 28 years old — could be available of course leads to all kinds of Twitter speculation as to what it would take to get him and which teams should and could pull off such a trade.

Peterson signed a five-year, $70 million extension just before the start of the 2014 season that expires after the 2020 season. His base salary for 2019 is $11 million, and $12.05 million in 2020. If he were traded this year, the team acquiring Peterson would pay the balance of his salary for this year, which would be 9/17 of $11 million, or about $5.8 million.

Could he be reunited with former college and Cardinals teammate Tyrann Mathieu in Houston? Would the Dallas Cowboys try to add him? What about the Kansas City Chiefs, who have the 31st ranked passing defense in the league?

Here’s another possibility: Bryant McFadden, who is an analyst for CBS Sports and also Peterson’s cousin, tweeted that the cornerback has a team in mind: the New Orleans Saints.

The Cardinals are saying they won’t trade him, but is there an offer they couldn’t refuse?

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