Since the end of the 2007 season, Culpepper has been unwanted.
He hasn't helped himself. In April, he turned down a $1 million offer from Green Bay, which would have put him in position to lead the Packers if (when) Aaron Rodgers gets hurt.
More recently, he refused a one-year, $730,000 offer from the Steelers, in part because he wanted to compete for the starting job. Against, you know, Ben Roethlisberger. Since then, Culpepper has recognized that it's too late to try to be a starter in 2008, especially in a city with a guy who just signed a $100 million contract.
"I initially hoped to have an opportunity to start," Culpepper recently told USA Today. "I am now looking for any team that will give me an opportunity to contribute wherever I am needed."
Apparently, he's realized that waiting for a starter to break a leg carried with it no guarantees that his phone would ring. Who'd take a chance on a stranger to the offense with a suspect leg of his own and a growing reputation for drama when a backup already is on the roster?
The deeper problem here is that, by representing himself, Culpepper is the guy who has to contact teams and sing his own praises. Agents (the good ones, that is) have the relationships and/or persuasive skills to talk a guy up much better than he could on his own.
Then, once a team is interested, Culpepper is in the awkward position of trying to drive a hard bargain with the very people with whom he'll be working. He also has no one to tell him when he's making a mistake by walking away.
Like when he turned down $1 million from the Packers. Or when he passed on $730,000 with the Steelers.
The other problem is that, by going it alone, Culpepper has given every other agent motivation to privately bad-mouth him. Typically, agents spend their time saying nasty stuff about each other. But when a player thinks he doesn't need an agent, he's a threat to all of them. And you can bet every agent who represents a quarterback looking for a job has been telling scouts and other front-office execs that anyone who takes a chance on a loose cannon like Culpepper risks getting himself fired.
Still, in a league with not enough capable arms to staff the depth charts of 32 teams, a guy like Culpepper should have a job. He's nearly three years from his knee injury, but only four years from a single-season passer rating of 110.9, the fifth-best showing in league history. At age 31, he can still play, and he at least deserves a shot.
But, until he gets an agent, he'll continue to spend his time waiting for the next chance to come.
I found this article! I say they try to get him just in case Rodgers gets hurt GOD FORBID it happens but you never know.
Here Fishy Fishy