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Jason Cole of Yahoo! (Yippee!) Sports reports that the National Football League Players Association will be filing a grievance on behalf of Dolphins quarterback Daunte Culpepper.

"This is similar to the Steve McNair case last year where Tennessee wouldn't let him come to work out at the team facility because they were afraid they were going to be responsible for his salary if he got hurt," Berthelsen said. "We filed a grievance over that and we prevailed, which helped ultimately force the trade of McNair to Baltimore."

The difference here, superficially, is that the Fins are allowing Culpepper to work out at the team facility. But, as of Friday, June 8, they will not allow him to participate in team drills.

"Under the provisions of the standard player contract, players are compelled to stay in excellent physical condition and be ready for the season," Berthelsen said. "How do you do that? By practicing with the other players on the team. If the team will not allow him to practice because they don't want to be liable for his contract, the team should release him. They can't keep exclusive rights to you just because they think you're worth a draft pick."

In contrast, the Chiefs allowed quarterback Trent Green to fully participate in minicamp practices, even though it was obvious that the Chiefs were planning to ship Green to the Dolphins once the two teams agreed on a price -- and even though a serious injury to Green could have put the Chiefs on the hook for $7.2 million in base salary.

Berthelesen thinks that the Chiefs handled the situation the correct way.

"Under the provisions of the standard player contract, players are compelled to stay in excellent physical condition and be ready for the season," Berthelsen said. "How do you do that? By practicing with the other players on the team. [Editor's note: Is Berthelsen saying that voluntary offseasons workouts are essentially mandatory?]If the team will not allow him to practice because they don't want to be liable for his contract, the team should release him. They can't keep exclusive rights to you just because they think you're worth a draft pick."

Offseason workouts are winding down; the Fins have only three more OTA sessions remaining -- Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday of this week. Thus, the best-case scenario for Culpepper would be to have the situation resolved in his favor before training camp opens, since this would prevent the team from holding Culpepper out of team drills once they put on the pads.

Given that this issue will likely come up in the future, and since we generally think that it is fundamentally unfair for a team to hold a player's rights while at the same time refusing to allow him to participate fully and completely in practice with his teammates, we think that the NFLPA should press for a broader solution. Specifically, we believe that the union should ask for a rule that makes the base salary of any vested veteran who was on the roster at the end of the prior season subject to the termination pay rule of the CBA if the vested veteran is on the team as of May 1.

This "poop or get off the pot" provision will allow the player to focus on getting ready for the coming season as a member of his current team, or to have enough time to find a new team. And if his current team doesn't cut the player by May 1, the player will be entitled to receive his full base salary if he is cut thereafter.

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