By Mark Maske
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, February 17, 2006 10:33 AM

When the Minnesota Vikings named Brad Childress, formerly the offensive coordinator of the Philadelphia Eagles, their new coach last month, Childress wasted no time expressing his fondness for the team's injured former Pro Bowl quarterback, Daunte Culpepper. Childress said at his introductory news conference that he thought Culpepper would fit in perfectly with what the new coaching staff would be trying to accomplish on offense. He said he'd gotten Culpepper's phone number from Eagles quarterback Donovan McNabb and was trying to get in touch with Culpepper to begin forging a relationship.

Things haven't exactly gone smoothly since then in the relationship between Culpepper and the Vikings, however. Culpepper fired his agent and reportedly sought to have the Vikings rework his contract and give him a raise even though he's coming off a season shortened by a major knee injury and is facing three misdemeanor charges stemming from his conduct during the infamous October boat cruise involving approximately 30 of the team's players.

The Vikings have reacted, according to a report in the Minneapolis Star Tribune, by shopping Culpepper around the league to gauge the trade interest in him. It's unclear whether a deal will be completed but the Miami Dolphins, New York Jets and Baltimore Ravens are among the clubs that could be looking to add quarterbacks this offseason. If the Vikings are going to trade Culpepper, they likely would do so before they would have to pay him a $6 million bonus on March 20.

In an e-mail sent to several news outlets, Culpepper said: "My position has been and continues to be that I am focusing on rehabilitating my knee so I can come back and play the game I love at the highest level. Until I hear different from [Vikings owner Zygi] Wilf or the new 'triangle of authority' at the Vikings, I plan on playing quarterback for Minnesota. Trying to delve into speculations, innuendo, rumor or anything else of this nature would be a waste of energy. I choose at this time to spend my energy on getting healthy."

Fran Foley, the Vikings' newly hired vice president of player personnel, declined to comment on Culpepper's status during a news conference Thursday.

The Tennessee Titans kept defensive end Kyle Vanden Bosch off the unrestricted free agent market by completing a four-year, approximately $22 million contract extension with him.

The deal contains about $14.5 million in bonuses. Vanden Bosch recorded 12 1/2 sacks this past season while playing for the league-minimum salary of $540,000 . . . .

The Houston Texans re-signed guard Fred Weary to keep him off the free-agent market . . . .

Quarterback Tim Couch worked out for the Texans. The former top overall draft selection has been working out for a series of teams as he attempts to make a return to the NFL from arm troubles . . . .

Agent Tom Condon has informed the Jets that quarterback Chad Pennington won't accept the club's proposal to reduce the $9 million income that Pennington is to have next season from salary and bonuses to $1 million, with a chance to make up the difference in incentives. But Condon and Pennington appear willing to try to negotiate some sort of reworked deal for Pennington with new Jets general manager Mike Tannenbaum to keep the quarterback with the team.

The Jets are facing a salary-cap crunch and have informed cornerback Ty Law they plan to release him. They are renegotiating tailback Curtis Martin's contract and apparently intend to use their franchise-player tag to keep defensive end John Abraham off the free-agent market but then attempt to trade him . . . .

Cincinnati Bengals Coach Marvin Lewis signed his third contract extension in three seasons with the club. Lewis's deal with the Bengals now runs through the 2010 season. Lewis this year took the Bengals to the playoffs for the first time since the 1990 season. The new contract apparently increases Lewis's salary to around $3 million per season.