The Student of the GameGoing Beyond the Stats

In an Sotg first I give you an offering by former co-host turned guest contributor Drew, the Local Statboy, offering his take on Miami QB Daunte Culpepper and the plight other such QBs have recently faced in the woes on being demoted while still stuck under contract.

There is no worse fate for a player than knowing he isn't wanted and being stuck under contract so he can't do anything about it.

Daunte Culpepper, if you have any questions, give Steve McNair or even Trent Green a call. McNair knows all about poor treatment from a franchise after a new quarterback has been brought in. However, know that your situation is not nearly as bad as his. You're allowed to be in the facility doing individual drills. The Titans front office was so nice, the powers that be didn't even let McNair go into the practice facility.

I don't like Baltimore one bit, but it really was a perfect situation to be traded into. Unfortunately for Daunte, there isn't a team that is in as dire need as Baltimore does. Not to mention the fact that DC is still recovering from injury that has been haunting him since 2005.

Now, McNair is a savvy veteran. Instead of complaining or trying to fight being traded like Trent and Daunte each did, he kept his cool and let the cards play out. He knows the NFL is as much of a business as it is a game. However, the teams should be ashamed for how they have handled things. On the flip side, they have the slightest of justification for their treatment (or mistreatment) of their players.

In Tennessee's case, McNair was not allowed in the Titan's practice facility. While I can understand him not being able to practice and watch new offensive coordinator Norm Chow start to install his offense when they knew McNair was a lame duck, there is no excuse why he can't even lift weights in the facility. I guess it's karma. The worst treatment from the team ended up garnering the best result for the QB: Baltimore ended up winning the tough AFC North Division with him at the focal point. In 2007, Baltimore's offense added another weapon to keep that team potent. Tennessee lost more weapons than they gained.

In Kansas City, the front office was very impressed by Damon Huard's production when he stepped in for Trent Green after a vicious hit left Green out with a bad concussion. In 2006, Huard was the best QB in KC, so it is within his rights to be able to get a good shot at being starter. Brodie Croyle was drafted to surpass them both, so he's working on doing that. That left Green feeling upset because he felt that he wouldn't have a fair shot to win a starting job against Huard or Croyle. No offense Trent, but your post concussion numbers were less than stellar. Your best game came against a decimated Cleveland secondary that had practice squad guys on the field and you still lost. Despite him being in his late 30s, he feels that he still has game left, so a trade was put together for him to be shipped to Miami. However, KC played hardball. They wanted a certain draft pick and when Miami didn't raise their offer to match that demand, they held on to Green. After weeks of waiting and trying to find a way around the issue, Miami finally ups their offer to conditionally give KC what they wanted, a 4th round pick, for Trent Green.

So Trent ends up in Daunte's place as the new QB for Miami. Miami's front office has been doing anything but the smart thing. I don't know if it's a Florida thing, but Miami has become the Orlando Magic of the NFL: One bad decision after another. Trading for Daunte was a bust after one season, the whole debacle with Ricky Williams, the signing of Joey Porter, who is classified as one of the most overrated players in the league, Nick Saban(nuff said), the passing on Brady Quinn for Ted Ginn Jr, and more. I mean, how many bad decisions can one franchise make? All of these are just from the last few years.

If Daunte is lucky, he will end up in Detroit, which is his best situation. They have a great receiver corps, a good offensive coordinator in Mike Martz and their starter is Jon Kitna, who put up awesome numbers last year, but Daunte in good health should be able to out do Kitna before the season starts. Like in Minnesota, he would play in a dome. The big question mark is if he is ever going to get back enough health wise to play again. He tore 3 ligaments in his knee and is a big guy, so it's hard to say if he will ever be 100% again. Daunte has said that he wants to be released so his hefty contract that Miami brilliantly signed him to wouldn't hinder him and so he could find a team of his choice that wants him, but I expect Miami to at least try to trade him. Who knows, Daunte could end up in a Jaguars uniform fighting Byron Leftwich for playing time.

Good luck, Daunte. You're going to need it.