The National Football League has suspended Arizona's top defensive player Patrick Peterson for six games. While being the focus of potential trade rumors, he's now faced with a suspension that will hurt his chances of being picked up by a new team. Arizona will now suffer without their defensive leader for the team's first six games. ESPN's Adam Schefter has reported that the suspension is for violating the league's PED policy. The news comes as the Cardinals appeared to be showing interest in shipping the Pro Bowl cornerback off.

Several teams interested in acquiring Peterson

Many teams were rumored to be interested in the Cardinals star, including the Kansas City Chiefs. If a team does end up making a deal for Peterson, Arizona could still end up the loser. With Peterson on a six-game suspension, he could return a bit rusty. The cornerback has not released the expected excuse for this violation as most players do. Arizona now faces a new drama, after dealing with the Murray and Rosen fiasco and the hiring of a fired college football coach.

As an eight-time Pro Bowler, he still appears to be playing at his prime. If the Cardinals do move forward with trading him, they will only have two weeks to show what he can do on the field before he is sent away.

The Cardinals are the losers both in terms of the trade deal and the suspension side.

Peterson will miss a good amount of playing time this season

No matter who Peterson plays for, his trade value has taken a severe hit. Peterson's suspension will keep him sidelined until October 20, when the Cardinals are set to play the New York Giants.

Patrick will miss out on the games against the Lions, Ravens, Panthers, Seahawks, Bengals, and Falcons.

CBS Sports NFL Insider Jason La Canfora said last year that Peterson was unhappy with the direction of the franchise and had requested the team deal him away before last year's trade deadline. Peterson has skipped the voluntary workouts this offseason, but head coach Kliff Kingsbury has said that is not something to worry about and that the workouts were voluntary.

Kliff Kingsbury still believes Peterson wants to be in Arizona

Coach Kingsbury has said that he's been in contact with the star player. The team knows where he's at and what is going on. Kingsbury said that he would be more worried if Peterson had not stayed in touch with the team and was unaware of what was really going on. Kingsbury says that Peterson wants to be in Arizona and be a part of the team.

Peterson would be part of an evolving defensive lineup. The Cardinals just signed former Falcons cornerback Robert Alford and last month drafted University of Washington cornerback Byron Murphy. They are now a part of a defense that ranked 17th in the league on a team the ended with a 3-13 record last season.
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