The acquisition of Daunte Culpepper could be a real opportunity for both him and the team, but it all comes down to whether the new zone-blocking scheme on the offensive line takes hold. It would be almost impossible for the line not to improve on the record 72(!!1!) sacks they gave up last season, which is just monumentally pathetic. But it is crucial that they keep Culpepper and his reconstructed knee upright, and give him sufficient time to hit Jerry Porter and Ron Curry. He's still got a cannon arm.
This has been a disheartening off-season for football fans, even before Mike Vick's nauseating little doggy-torture-chamber was unearthed. Between Pacman Jones' idiot antics, the DUI's, the various antics of the Cincinnati Bengals, and so on, I can't help but wonder about the corporate perspective. Because the NFL is nothing but a corporation, albeit one with the most high-profile employee roster in the country, and one which cultivates working-class fans with upscale prices. And Joe Six-Pack doesn't really want to pay $60/head, $10/beer, and $80/jersey to watch a bunch of spoiled thugs play. At least the league is trying to crack down on some of the behavior issues.
But it still interests me in the more wonky disciplines of resource management, negotiation, and the actual strategery of the games, and in that light, the signing of Culpepper is intriguing, and has a lot of potential upside. He has the talent to help bring Jamarcus Russell along, and seems to be a good character addition to a team that needs all the leadership it can get.
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