If coach Mike Zimmer gets his way, running back Adrian Peterson will be back in a Minnesota Vikings uniform next season.

Peterson, suspended until at least April 15 by the NFL, has not been discussed publicly by the organization since November when he was placed on the commissioner’s exempt list

“Adrian was always great with me. I think he’s a good person,” Zimmer told ESPN. “I think obviously he’s a great running back, and if it works out that way and things work out and he gets his life in order — that’s the most important thing, he gets his life in order, he gets the opportunity to come back — then I will be in his corner whatever the decision is made. I think he would add value to any team, to be honest with you. I think the kid’s a heck of a football player.”

Zimmer said last month he believes Peterson wants to play in Minnesota. Unforgiving sponsors who threatened to walk away and apparel distributors who pulled his jerseys off of Minnesota store shelves might need to be convinced the move makes sense.

“You have to ask him. I don’t know,” Zimmer said. “But I know he does have an awful lot of people here who have supported him, and I don’t know who he’s speaking of who doesn’t. All I know of Adrian is that he’s always been great with me, always done what I’ve asked him to do, and I kind of go by what I see.”

Peterson told USA Today in December that he may play for a different team once he is reinstated because he believes some within the Vikings organization do not support him.

“I know who loves me. The coaches and the players, it’s not going to be a problem. I’ve felt so much support from those guys,” Peterson said. “The organization, I know there’s people in the organization that support me and there’s people that I know internally that has not been supporting me. Maybe it’s best for me to get a fresh start somewhere else.”

“I would love to go back and play in Minnesota to get a feel and just see if my family still feels comfortable there. But if there’s word out that, hey, they might release me, then so be it. I would feel good knowing that I’ve given everything I had in me.”

Peterson has spent all eight of his NFL seasons with the Vikings.