http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=2368259 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. Daunte Culpepper Quarterback Minnesota Vikings Profile 2005 SEASON STATISTICS Att Comp Yds TD Int Rat 216 139 1395 6 12 72.0 Brees agreed to a six-year, $60 million deal with the New Orleans Saints on Tuesday. The deal includes a $10 million signing bonus. 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. Len Pasquarelli and John Clayton are senior NFL writers for ESPN.com.
Culpepper is a nice fit with the Dolphins. I want to see what Chris Chambers can do with a top-notch QB. The Dolphins haven't had a good QB since the one-legged Dan Marino.
I'm a culpepper fan, but its gonna be interesting to see what he does without moss, he didn't get off to a good start. i actually heard a talking head still proclaiming just this weekend that separation from moss should be good for his career. that he thought he would have put up better numbers and didn't understand what happened last season.
I'm also curious about Brees. He sucked his first few years without Antonio Gates, and threw a good chunk of his TD's to him the last 2 years. I'm not sure how much of it was Brees being great vs him being able to just throw to best tight end in the NFL. He also had Tomlinson to take the pressure off - things he won't have in New Orleans.
Clayton from ESPN said that if NO stays at #2 they will take Mario Williams. I'm thinking the Jets will now try to leap in front of the Titans to get Leinart.
No way the Cowboys will let him get by. If VY goes out and has a terrible pro-day I think there is a chance he could fall to us in round 2. How cool would that be.
Now they have a one legged Culpepper. So much for being able to trade down with the Saints so they would be guaranteed Leinart.
Well, this certainly shakes things up a bit. You now have 2 less teams in need of a QB. Getting Daunte Culpepper for a 2nd rounder was a good deal for Miami. New Orleans might have overpaid for Drew Brees.
Vince could have the worst pro day in the history of time and he'd still be a top 10 pick. This really moves the Texans a step closer to Bush. Before, the Texans held all the cards. If a team (Jets) wanted to move up to have their pick of the quarterbacks, they had to move up to our spot to move ahead of the Saints. Now that the Saints won't be selecting a quarterback, other teams only need to move up to #2 to have their choice of quarterbacks. Thus, the value and rarity of our pick has taken a bit of a hit... and has to make it even more likely that we keep the pick.
After the Weaver signing, we weren't going to draft Williams anyway. There's no way we were going to lock up that much money at DE (especially with Babin and Peek, who will be getting a sizable raise, on the books). It's now either Bush at #1, or the Jets offer the farm to get ahead of the Titans to take Leinart.
I think it's a good possibility now that New Orleans will trade out of the #2 spot. IMO if the Jets really wanted to move up for Leinart they would have a much easier time of trading with NOLA than they would with us.
I seem to recall you saying something similar about Chris Simms. It would only take a few teams not believing in VY to keep him out of the top 10. And apparently you can count the Saints among one of those teams.
One could only hope, right? Actually I think VY will be the second qb taken. I don't see him falling out of the top ten.
Bold statement. I still think VY will go 7th to the Raiders, but it is very possible he slips out of the top 10. And I really don't think this affects the Texans either way, their mind is and has been made up.
