The agent for Vikings quarterback Daunte Culpepper said he is prepared to begin "scheduled" contract negotiations with the team to make his client one of the NFL's highest-paid players. Mason Ashe, Culpepper's agent, said he, Vikings owner Zygi Wilf and Rob Brzezinski, the team's vice president of football operations, outlined their intentions in August, when Culpepper received an additional $7.5 million in guaranteed money from the team. "I am poised and ready to begin the scheduled restructuring of his long-term contract with the Vikings, as we discussed last summer with Mr. Wilf, so Daunte can assume the position on the NFL pay scale that he so deserves," Ashe said Wednesday. Wilf, through a team spokesman, declined comment Wednesday evening. Brzezinski also declined comment, and Culpepper did not return phone messages. Culpepper has been noticeably silent since an interview with the Pioneer Press on Dec. 15, when he insisted he would dispute the three misdemeanor charges against him for his role in the controversial boat party Oct. 6 on Lake Minnetonka. He also cast his support of backup quarterback Brad Johnson and said he expected to "end my career in Minnesota and win Super Bowls for the Vikings."