On November 2, 2008, ESPN reported that he had agreed to terms on a two-year deal contract with the Detroit Lions and would join the team the following week. After passing a physical, Culpepper officially signed with the Lions on November 3. The Lions assigned Culpepper number 11, the number Roy Williams had worn before he was traded to Dallas on October 14. Culpepper played four games with the Lions before suffering a shoulder injury. On December 28, 2008, the Lions became the first team in NFL history to go 0–16. The only other teams since the AFL–NFL merger to have a winless season were the 1976 Tampa Bay Buccaneers, who went 0–14 (the NFL did not extend the schedule to 16 games until 1978), the 1982 Baltimore Colts, who went 0–8–1 during that strike-shortened season, and subsequently the 2017 Cleveland Browns, who went 1–31 over the 2016 and 2017 seasons.