A media source in Motown tells us that there’s a “very unsubstantiated” rumor that retired quarterback Daunte Culpepper could be joining the Detroit Lions, as soon as today.

It’s just a rumor, but since this is a rumor mill we decided, “What the hell?”

We’ve sent an e-mail to Culpepper in order to determine whether it’s true.  We’ve yet to hear back from him.  (If we were “real” journalists, we would have deprived you of this potentially useless and inaccurate information until we received a response from him.  Fortunately, we’re not “real” journalists.)

We corresponded with Daunte on several occasions in August and September, and he provided us with an open letter to the NFL stating his case for another chance with a new team.  When that didn’t create an opportunity for him, Culpepper opted to retire.

Lions starting quarterback Jon Kitna has a back injury, and he is expected to miss Sunday’s game against the Vikings.

Even if there’s any truth to this rumor (and we have at this point no idea whether there is), how would signing with the Lions today make any difference come Sunday?  It would seem to make more sense to go with Dan Orlovsky and Drew Stanton this week, and then bring Culpepper in on Monday.

Then again, this team rarely does anything that makes much sense, so it wouldn’t surprise us if Culpepper ends up signing a deal today. 

UPDATE:  Culpepper advises us that he’s still retired.