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Vikings deal Culpepper to Miami for second-round pick
By Len Pasquarelli and John Clayton
ESPN.com
The Dolphins decided to stop waiting for Chargers quarterback Drew Brees to lower his contract demands and opted to give the Vikings a second-round choice to acquire quarterback Daunte Culpepper.
Miami coach Nick Saban revisited the trade talks with the Vikings on Monday, after Dolphins officials determined that the contract demands of Brees were more than they wanted to invest.
The acquisition of Culpepper is contingent on him passing a Dolphins-administered physical exam.
Culpepper had been talking to the Dolphins for the past week, expressing his desire to be with the Dolphins along with showing a willingness to rework his contract to fit into the Dolphins salary cap. Contract talks between the Dolphins and Brees have been stalled because the Saints had more money and more guarantees on the table from the Saints.
Vikings coach Brad Childress said recently Culpepper is on schedule in his rehab from surgery in which he tore three knee ligaments after having a trainer fly to Florida to meet with Culpepper. The recovery time from such major surgery is 12 months, but Culpepper has told the Dolphins that he's ahead of schedule and may be able to play before September.
Brees is coming off January surgery to repair a torn labrum and also a partially torn rotator cuff in his right shoulder. The Dolphins spent much of Monday putting Brees, who is currently rehabilitating the shoulder in Birmingham, Ala., under renowned orthopedist Dr. James Andrews, through a lengthy battery of tests. It is not known how much the results of those tests entered into the decision to pursue Culpepper instead.
Adding Culpepper almost certainly means the Dolphins will release 2005 starter Gus Frerotte, a move that would save Miami about $1.4 million in salary cap space.
Upset by Daunte Culpepper's public attempts to force a divorce, Minnesota determined last week to trade the unhappy quarterback and ratcheted up their dialogue with possible suitors. The situation, however, was so awkwardly handled by both Culpepper and the Vikings that trade talks dragged on, interested franchises came and went, and Minnesota eventually found itself with few options.
In an e-mail last week, the fourth he has sent to Twin Cities and national reporters since last month, Culpepper wrote: "Now that I have confirmed that the Vikings have been seeking to trade me, I have asked for permission to speak to the interested teams. The Vikings have denied my request. If a trade does not happen, then I am asking the Vikings to terminate my contract as soon as possible."
Minnesota was scheduled to pay Culpepper a $6 million roster bonus on March 20 as part of a contract enhancement new owner Zygi Wilf added to the quarterback's existing deal last summer. It remains to be seen how the Dolphins deal with that obligation. Miami almost certainly will want to readjust the contract as part of the trade.
But the contract, which runs through 2013 and pays a base salary of $2 million for this year, was just one of the several elements that complicated the trade negotiations with several teams.
Culpepper, 29, continues to rehabilitate his right knee and, while he is said to have made substantial progress in his recovery, the injury was a severe one. Culpepper tore three ligaments in the knee in an Oct. 30 game at Carolina and has been rehabilitating in the Orlando, Fla., area. First-year Vikings head coach Brad Childress would have preferred that Culpepper continue his rehabilitation at the team's facility.
It was not immediately known if the Dolphins did any preliminary examination of Culpepper's knee.
In addition, Culpepper still faces misdemeanor charges related to the so-called "Love Boat" scandal of last September, an incident allegedly involving some Vikings teammates. And, finally, Culpepper split during this offseason with longtime agent Mason Ashe, and has been representing himself. He may need to hire representation to help him deal with the Dolphins in any contract restructuring.
Culpepper's base salaries for the seasons after this one rise dramatically, to $5.5 million in 2007 and $6 million each for 2008-2009.
A first-round pick in the 1999 draft, Culpepper has appeared in 81 games and started all but one of them. He has completed 1,678 of 2,607 passes for 20,162 yards, with 135 touchdown passes and 86 interceptions.
The former Central Florida star has also rushed 454 times for 2,476 yards. He has been chosen to the Pro Bowl on three occasions.
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Early in his career, there were questions about Drew Brees having a slow release.
That wasn't the case Tuesday when he pulled the trigger on a six-year, $60 million deal with the New Orleans Saints that included a $10 million signing bonus.
Brees' decision came within seconds of the Dolphins dropping out of the bidding when they traded a second-round choice for Daunte Culpepper. All along, the Saints had more money and more guarantees on the table for Brees and wanted to use his name as the marquee for ticket sales, sales that have been hot because of the Saints' return to New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina.
Even though the Saints will be looking at Matt Leinart in the draft, they have Brees as their starting quarterback. That puts the Saints in the position to possible trade down from the No. 2 spot and take defensive end Mario Williams or simply take the North Carolina State defensive end.
Brees comes to New Orleans with high recommendations. Cowboys coach Bill Parcells has always been a big fan of Brees and advised his former assistant, Sean Payton, to take Brees if he had the chance. Payton is the new coach of the Saints.
Brees rejected the Dolphins' idea of lowering his demands for guarantees because the Saints made a promise to his agent, Tom Condon. In the end, Brees didn't budge and he ended up going to the Saints.
All Courtesy of ESPN.comQuote:
Jon Kitna made the first move Tuesday for what will be a busy day for NFL quarterbacks by agreeing to a four-year deal with the Detroit Lions.
Terms of the four-year contract weren't available, but it is believed that Kitna will get a signing bonus of $3 million to $4 million. Kitna visited the Jets and Lions and was under consideration by the Ravens. He sensed something was going to happen with another team over the weekend when he told the Bengals he would not be returning.
In response, the Bengals brought in Rams quarterback Jamie Martin for a visit.
Kitna's decision could heat up talks between the Redskins and the Jets for Redskins quarterback Patrick Ramsey. The Redskins want to move Ramsey on Tuesday in a trade. Detroit, the Jets and the Dolphins were the teams talking to the Redskins.
A nine-year veteran, Kitna played the last five seasons for the Cincinnati Bengals after a four-year stint with the Seattle Seahawks. He was the Bengals' starter as recently as 2003, but then was replaced by first-round draft choice Carson Palmer during the following offseason. In the last two seasons, Kitna has played in just seven regular-season games and started only three.
He relieved the injured Palmer in a wild-card playoff game against Pittsburgh in January, after the starter suffered a torn anterior cruciate ligament, but threw a pair of costly second-half interceptions following several solid series in the first half.
Kitna, who had rejected a mid-season offer to extend his contract, made it clear after that playoff game loss to the Steelers that he would test the free agent market and seek a better situation, one where he might be able to compete for the No. 1 job.
Kitna, 33, has appeared in 92 games and started 79 of them. He has completed 1,667 of 2,837 passes for 18,259 yards, with 108 touchdown passes, 104 interceptions and a passer rating of 75.3. His best season was in 2003, when he threw for 3,591 yards and 26 touchdowns. Kitna earned the league's comeback player of the year for his 2003 performance.
His resume includes four seasons in which he passed for 3,000-plus yards and four in which he posted 15 or more touchdown passes.
The former Central Washington star entered the NFL with the Seahawks as an undrafted college free agent in 1996 and spent the entire season on the practice squad. He became the Seattle starter in 1999, held the job for two seasons, then signed with Cincinnati as an unrestricted free agent in 2001.
Last week, the Lions signed former Tampa Bay quarterback Shaun King, who did not play in the league in 2005, to a one-year contract. Besides Harrington and King, the depth chart also includes second-year pro Dan Orlovsky, a fifth-round pick in 2005 who played sparingly as a rookie.
