I like Brees and would be happy if we can get him, but if we can get Culpepper without giving away the farm, it's a no-brainer. There are obviously a lot of people that don't like Culpepper, but I just don't get it. When you account for his rushing numbers, his production has been absolutely phenomenal. His yards per game and TDs per game are the best ever. His completion % is close to the best ever. His interception rate is comparable to HOFers like Marino, Favre, Moon, Kelly, etc. Physically, he has a lot more size and speed than any QB should be allowed to have. He's the size of a DE and runs like a fullback. He has a very strong arm and has proven to be very good at throwing deep -- in 2004 he completed an incredible 17 of 34 passes thrown more than 31 yards from scrimmage in the air. And no, it was not because of jump balls to Moss -- Moss caught only 3 of them. Below are my responses to the criticisms I hear from the Culpepper haters:
The Knee
It is legitimate to be concerned about the knee, but this is an area we all need to defer to the doctors on. They are saying he is well ahead of schedule and will play next year. The decision on a QB of the future should not hinge on whether he'll be at full strength at the beginning of this year (this goes for Brees too). I can't think of a single QB whose career was ended or derailed by a leg injury. The only one that even comes to mind is Joe Theisman, but he was 35 and his much younger replacement played well in his absence, so it's not fair to say that the injury is what ended his career. Marino had one of his best seasons the year he came back from the Achilles injury. When RBs are able to come back from hideous knee injuries, it seems like a stretch to say that Culpepper can't or won't.
The Fumbles
Yes, he does fumble a lot. However, even if you treat the fumbles as interceptions, his numbers are still great. People keep citing to the total fumbles numbers, as opposed to fumbles lost, which is really the relevant number. He's lost an average of about 5 fumbles per season, which is about 2-3 more than most other QBs. BTW, Gus fumbled 13 times last year and lost 4, but I have never heard anyone on this board bitching about that particular aspect of his game. Also, part of the reason Culpepper fumbles is that he runs with the ball, i.e., he actually get's tackled while holding the ball
100+ times per year. If the average RB had those carries instead of Culpepper, he'd fumble a few times too (Ronnie Brown had 4 fumbles in 239 touches and Ricky has 35 fumbles in approximately 2000 touches in his career).
The Boat
Give me a break. He is charged with getting a lap dance and touching the dancer's tushy. Are you such prudes that you find that to be outrageous conduct? Do you think no other NFL players get lap dances? Hell, Clinton Portis had a stripper pole and a bevy of strippers in his house. Do you really think the Fins players would be hesitant to follow his lead because he allegedly touched a stripper's tushy?
The Moss
Culpepper's great numbers are not because of Randy Moss -- any more than Montana/Young were products of Rice or Manning is a product of Harrison. Almost every great QB has had some great WRs. In 2004, Mossed missed 3 games and was just a decoy in 2 others. In those 5 games, Culpepper completed 113 of 166 passes (68%) for 1179 yards, 9 TDs and 3 INTs, which comes out to a QB rating of 99. For that season, if you exclude passes thrown to Moss, he completed 330 of 463 passes (71.3%), for 3950 yards and 26 TDs. Even if you assume that none of his INTs were on passes thrown to Moss, which is doubtful, his QB rating excluding Moss was 105.9. Moreover, Moss clearly didn't make Kerry Collins into the Pro Bowler this year, even though he was opposite other quality WRs.
The 2005 INTs
Culpepper had a very bad start to 2005. He had 8 picks in the first 2 games, but had 6 TDs and 4 INTs int he 4 games after that. He was playing for a new OC, with a new set of receivers and an OL that had lost its anchor, Pro Bowl center Matt Birk. The OL was really struggling -- he was sacked 31 times in just over 6 games. You can't disregard his career numbers based on 2 bad games at the start of the season. Even the best QBs will occasionally have a 3-4 INT game.
The Playoffs
True, Minnesota has not been a great team since he's been there, but they have consistently had one fo the 5-6 worst defenses in the NFL. From 2000-04, the Vikes never had a defense that was better than 25th in the NFL. Even Marino had better defenses in the late 80s and early 90s. With a few exceptions, Minny had unremarkable running games during that time (especially if you exclude Culpepper's rushing numbers). Still, the Vikes were 39-41 during that time period, which is comparable to Marino's record from 1986-89 when the Fins defenses wetre bad (30-33). We all know that even a great QB cannot win with a bad defense.
The Money
Daunte is due to make $2 million this year, less than half of what Gus is due to be paid. Brees will undoubtedly cost several times that amount. The 3 years after this one, Culpepper is due to make around $6 million per year, which isn't much for an upper echelon QB. Brees will cost more. Some are offended that he reportedly asked for more money, but it isn't clear that he did. His agent did, and then got fired for it. The Vikes owner had publicly said that he would re-evaluate Daunte's contract after this past season, so it wouldn't have been unusual for Daunte to expect him to do that.
