Daunte's Future Home

Now that the dust has settled in Miami and the Dolphins are poised to part ways with Daunte Culpepper, the obvious question arises of where exactly Daunte will play. At this juncture there aren't any teams where Daunte could step in and start, although isn't it ironic that the Vikings would probably kill to have him back at this point? Seriously, you don't think they would want Daunte over Tavaris Jackson or Brooks Bollinger? I digress. After searching through various news reports and hearing various rumors, four destinations have jumped out as possible destinations for Daunte next season: Jacksonville, Baltimore, Detroit, and...Winnipeg?

Jacksonville: Byron Leftwich is in the final year of his contract, and the Jaguars already seem to have wavering confidence as to whether or not he is their starter for the future. David Garrard stepped in last season after Leftwich was injured, and had moderate success despite the Jaguars experiencing a three game losing streak to end the season while Garrard was under center. All indications would point to the Jags not wanting to make Garrard their long term starter either, so after Leftwich departs next season Culpepper would have the opportunity to compete for the starting job on an offense featuring three talented young wide recievers in Matt Jones, Ernest Wilford, and Reggie Williams, as well as rookies Maurice Jones-Drew and Marcedes Lewis. The Jaguars would seem to be the best situation for Culpepper in terms of prolonging his career, as he would likely step into the starting role after a year of learning the offense, and then have available to him a variety of weapons. It is rather ironic though, that in that scenario the jaguars would essentially be trading a big, strong-armed, immobile QB in Leftwich for a big, strong-armed, (now) immobile QB in Culpepper.

Baltimore: The Ravens have a slightly different problem than the Jaguars, as while Steve McNair was good for them last season there are some indications that the 34 year old QB may be nearing the end of his career. That problem is compounded by the fact that the Ravens have Kyle Boller, the current Darko Milicic of the NFL, as their backup. Culpepper would step in and immediately push Boller down the depth chart, but unlike in Jacksonville his future options to start in Baltimore are much more unclear. There is no certainty that this season or the next would be the last for McNair, and it is unlikely that Culpepper would go into a situation where he would not have a chance to compete for the starting job. The Ravens do have some nice offensive weapons in Todd Heap and Willis McGahee, but it is unlikely Culpepper would get the chance to throw to them any time soon.

Detroit: Jon Kitna was shaky for the Lions this past season, throwing the second most interceptions (22) of any quarterback in the league. Much like in Miami the future at the QB position is on the horizon in Detroit, as the Lions used a 2nd round choice in this year's draft on Drew Stanton. Stanton likely would not be ready to start for at least two seasons, and with management likely to have a short fuse with Kitna now that Calvin Johnson has been added to an already talented WR corps, Culpepper could have a legitmate chance to start this season and throw his patented long bombs to Johnson and Roy Williams.

Winnipeg: No, that isn't a typo. Evidently the Winnipeg Blue Bombers see some potential in Culpepper, as they put him on their protected player list, meaning that they would be the only CFL team that could negotiate with him. As far fetched as that may sound, bear in mind that Winnipeg did sign former Viking Onterrio Smith after the Whizzinator incident, so I guess you never know...