Justin Jefferson$50 million
Caleb Williams$14 million
Michael Andretti$80 million
Michael Wilbon$18 million
Bill Belichick$70 million
Max Verstappen$300 million
Paul Pierce Earned $245 Million — Now His Lawyer Says He's "Drowning Financially"$40 million
Caitlin Clark$20 million
Ryan Dunn$6 million
Luka Dončić$100 million
Sam Burns$10 million
Félix Auger-Aliassime$10 million
Adrian Peterson, the former NFL running back and 2012 league Most Valuable Player, has a net worth of -$12 million, according to Celebrity Net Worth — a negative figure, meaning his reported debts exceed his assets. This is not a fortune but an estimate of how far into debt one of the greatest running backs of his generation is believed to be. Peterson earned $103 million in NFL salary and bonuses across 15 seasons, more than $94 million of it during a decade with the Minnesota Vikings, yet he became embroiled in substantial financial problems involving unpaid loans, court judgments and efforts to seize his assets. A $5.2 million loan taken out in 2016 ultimately produced a judgment whose collection balance was reported at $12.5 million in 2024, with the dispute continuing into 2025.
| Quick Facts | Adrian Peterson |
|---|---|
| Full name | Adrian Lewis Peterson |
| Net worth | -$12 million (negative — debts exceed assets) |
| Born | 21 March 1985, Palestine, Texas |
| Position | Running back |
| Teams | Vikings, Saints, Cardinals, Washington, Lions, Titans, Seahawks (2007–2021) |
| Draft | No. 7 overall, 2007 NFL Draft |
| College | Oklahoma (2004–2006) |
| Major honours | NFL MVP (2012), 7× Pro Bowl, 4× first-team All-Pro, 3× rushing titles |
| Career rushing yards | 14,918 |
| Career rushing touchdowns | 120 |
| Career NFL earnings | $103 million |
Net worth figures are estimates only, based on public sources. A negative net worth means estimated debts are greater than estimated assets.
Early Life
Adrian Lewis Peterson was born on 21 March 1985 in Palestine, Texas, to former college athletes. When Adrian was seven, his older brother, Brian, was killed by a drunk driver, a tragedy Peterson later described as a major influence on his life. He excelled in football and track at Palestine High School, becoming one of the country’s most sought-after recruits. His father gave him the nickname “All Day”, a reference to his seemingly endless energy.
Oklahoma Sooners
Peterson enrolled at the University of Oklahoma in 2004 and immediately became one of college football’s biggest stars, rushing for 1,925 yards as a freshman and finishing second to Matt Leinart in Heisman Trophy voting. Injuries interrupted portions of his next two seasons, including a broken collarbone during his junior year. After three seasons with the Sooners, he skipped his final year of eligibility and entered the 2007 NFL Draft.
Minnesota Vikings and NFL MVP
The Minnesota Vikings selected Peterson seventh overall in 2007. As a rookie, he rushed for 1,341 yards and 12 touchdowns, earning NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year, and set the single-game rushing record with 296 yards against the San Diego Chargers. He won his first rushing title in 2008 and helped the Vikings reach the NFC Championship Game with Brett Favre in 2009. After tearing the ACL and MCL in his left knee in December 2011, he returned in 2012 to rush for 2,097 yards — eight short of Eric Dickerson’s record — winning NFL MVP and Offensive Player of the Year. He missed nearly all of 2014 following his child-abuse case, then returned in 2015 to lead the league with 1,485 rushing yards and win his third rushing title at 30. A knee injury limited him to three games in 2016, his last season with Minnesota.
Later NFL Teams
Peterson joined the New Orleans Saints in 2017, lasting only four games before a trade to the Arizona Cardinals. He then spent 2018 and 2019 with Washington, rushing for 1,042 yards at age 33 in 2018. After a season with the Detroit Lions in 2020, he made his final NFL appearances with Tennessee and Seattle in 2021, scoring his last touchdown as a Seahawk. His honours included selection to the NFL’s 2010s All-Decade Team, and the Vikings selected him for their Ring of Honor in 2026. He finished with 14,918 rushing yards and 120 rushing touchdowns in 15 seasons.
Contracts and Career Earnings
Peterson earned $103 million in NFL salary and bonuses, among the most ever by a running back; more than $94 million came from his ten seasons with Minnesota. His 2007 rookie contract was worth up to $40.5 million over five years, including $17 million guaranteed. In 2011, he signed a six-year extension reported at $86 million, with $36 million in guarantees, producing his biggest annual payday — more than $20 million in 2011. A 2015 restructure turned the deal into three years and $42 million with $20 million guaranteed. After free agency in 2017, he signed a two-year, $7 million contract with New Orleans, followed by shorter deals with Washington, Detroit, Tennessee and Seattle.
Loans, Judgments, and Financial Problems
Peterson’s largest publicly reported debt began with a $5.2 million loan from Pennsylvania-based DeAngelo Vehicle Sales LLC in October 2016, at 12% interest and due in March 2017. Documents indicated he sought an advance against an anticipated $18 million payment from Minnesota to consolidate existing debts. That payment never materialised after the Vikings declined his contract option, and the unpaid loan led to litigation, a 2019 settlement he defaulted on, and an $8.3 million judgment from a New York judge in 2021. A separate 2019 Maryland judgment ordered him to pay $2.4 million after his company failed to fully repay a $4 million Democracy Capital loan from 2016. His attorney, Chase Carlson, blamed trusting the wrong people with his money. By 2024, court filings placed the DeAngelo collection balance at $12.5 million, and a court-appointed receiver pursued his property; in September 2024, a Houston judge authorised constables to accompany the receiver to his Missouri City, Texas, home. His representatives said the loan was tied to a business he co-owned, not personal spending. In September 2025, USA Today reported court filings placing the outstanding debt between $11 million and $13 million.
Legal Issues
In September 2014, Peterson was indicted in Texas after using a wooden switch to discipline his four-year-old son. That November, he pleaded no contest to misdemeanor reckless assault, receiving two years of deferred adjudication, a $4,000 fine and 80 hours of community service. He missed all but the opening game of the 2014 season, and the controversy cost him endorsement deals with Nike and Castrol. In February 2022, he was arrested after an argument with his wife, Ashley, on a flight from Los Angeles; she said he had not hit her, and he agreed to counselling sessions as an alternative to prosecution. In March 2026, he pleaded guilty to misdemeanor DWI from an April 2025 traffic stop in Minnesota, receiving probation and community service, and in October 2025 he was arrested in Sugar Land, Texas, on DWI and unlawful-carrying charges.
Real Estate
In 2013, Peterson paid $5.05 million for an estate in The Woodlands, Texas — a 10,582-square-foot mansion on nearly nine acres. He listed it for $8.5 million in 2016, cut the price to $4.5 million, and sold in December 2020; the closing price was not disclosed. He also bought an estate in Houston’s Rivercrest neighborhood for $3.44 million in 2016, a 3.5-acre compound with a seven-bedroom main house and a four-bedroom guesthouse. Listed at $6.5 million in 2019, it sold in June 2021 for a reported $3.5 million to $4 million.
Personal Life
Peterson’s story remains one of the starkest contrasts in modern sport: a running back whose on-field career ranks among the greatest ever assembled, and whose finances unravelled even while he was earning at the very top of his profession. The $103 million he earned across 15 seasons was consumed, according to court records and his own representatives, by a combination of loans, interest, legal costs and trusted advisers who failed him. His representatives have maintained that the central loan was tied to a co-owned business rather than personal spending, and that he has tried to negotiate a settlement. Whatever the final resolution of the judgments against him, the negative net worth figure is a reminder that in professional sport, career earnings and wealth are very different things.
Related: Rosey Grier Net Worth, Jake Delhomme Net Worth, Tom Brady Net Worth
