Looks like Culpepper will stay in Minnesota

[faba]

Updated: Feb. 26, 2006, 2:47 PM ET

Vikings owner says Culpepper to receive roster bonus

ESPN.com news services

Daunte Culpepper's future as the Minnesota Vikings' starting quarterback appears safe -- in the short term at least.

Daunte Culpepper[url=http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/players/profile?statsId=4659]

Vikings owner Zygi Wilf told reporters Saturday at the NFL scouting combine that the team planned to pay Culpepper a $6 million roster bonus he is scheduled to receive March 17, the Star Tribune and Pioneer Press both reported.

When he was asked if Culpepper figures in the team's 2006 plans, Wilf said "That is our plan, yes. Always was."

In a statement to the media last week, Culpepper mentioned that he offered to move his $6 million roster bonus, which is set to be paid on March 17, to another date to help the Vikings sign more free agents under the salary cap -- though the team is projected to have plenty of room.

Culpepper wrote that he was assured by Wilf in a phone conversation earlier this week the Vikings have "not yet spoken to other teams about trading" him.

On Friday, new Vikings coach Brad Childress tried to downplay trade speculation about Culpepper, saying the quarterback figures into his plans.

"That's the mindset," Childress said Friday at the NFL scouting combine in Indianapolis. "I don't know anything to the contrary."

The injured quarterback, who tore three ligaments in his right knee in an Oct. 30 game and has been rehabilitating in his native Florida, also said he told Wilf he wasn't happy with what he's been reading in the news -- and what he hasn't been hearing from the club.

"I shared my disappointment with the lack of communication and the false reports about me demanding more money coming out of Minnesota," said Culpepper, who let go of his agent last month and has been representing himself.

Childress acknowledged that the team has had inquiries about Culpepper, with the free agent and trading period set to begin next weekend.

"That's what goes on this time of year," he said.

[spjets]

well, this says we might go after him..

http://www.twincities.com/mld/twincities/sports/columnists/charley_walters/13963341.htm

Some people believe Daunte Culpepper's offer to move his $6 million roster bonus due date to assist the Vikings with salary cap space is actually a way for the embattled quarterback to try to convert the roster bonus into a guaranteed signing bonus.

The Vikings, who are $23 million under the salary cap, don't need cap space. Minnesota wouldn't gain salary cap space by moving the date of a roster bonus; the only way to gain cap space would be to convert the roster bonus to a signing bonus and amortize it over several years.

If Culpepper is released before March 17, which still seems likely, the Vikings would owe him nothing.

) The best free-agent quarterback for the Vikings would seem to be Drew Brees, but he could cost $15 million in guaranteed money, and he's coming back after shoulder surgery.

) The New York Jets appear to be the team with the best chance at trading for Culpepper. If Culpepper is traded or released, signing free agent Chris Weinke of St. Paul as a backup to Brad Johnson, then drafting a quarterback in April, would seem reasonable.