CLEARING THE AIR ON THE CULPEPPER CONTRACT

On Wednesday morning, we posted the details of quarterback Daunte Culpepper’s contract with the Lions. The most curious aspect of the deal was a $1 million incentive tied to five-percent playing time and the achievement of any of various team and individual performance improvements. The incentive represents, frankly, the potential waste of $1 million by a G.M. and a COO who are desperate to keep their jobs after the 2008 season. On Wednesday afternoon, I started to hear from folks who said that they had seen information regarding the Culpepper contract, and that there was no such incentive contained in it. “Your information is not correct,” I explained to the folks who contacted me, and I wondered whether some of them were trying to protect the G.M. and COO whose case for ongoing employment might be hampered significantly if Culpepper earns the $1 million incentive. I later heard from Tom Kowalski of Mlive.com (not “Kowolski” as some who should be sensitive to the bastardization of ethnic surnames might type it), who told me that he’d heard from a trusted source that there was no such incentive. I explained to Kowalski that, if he’s getting his information from an agent who was getting his information from the NFLPA, then the NFLPA information isn’t accurate. (As it turns out, the NFLPA doesn’t include so-called “Not Likely To Be Earned Incentives” in its internal reports.) So Kowalski posted an item containing what he called “conflicting information” regarding the incentive. He has since advised me that, indeed, our information was accurate. But, of course, that hasn’t stopped some who are inclined to denigrate our efforts from pointing out that we were wrong about the Culpepper incentive. It’ll be interesting to see whether those who cited Kowalski’s report from Wednesday afternoon will amend their stories to reflect his report from Thursday morning, in which Kowalski acknowledges the existence of the incentive. We don’t plan to hold our breath. Or any other bodily function.