NEW ORLEANS (AP) - Saints cornerback Dale Carter, who signed a $28 million contract this month, has filed for bankruptcy.
Carter was in Miami bankruptcy court for a meeting with creditors this week. He filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy on Feb. 15, listing his debts to more than 20 creditors as $4.9 million and his assets as more than $1 million.
Carter missed 18 months of football the past two seasons because of drug suspensions.
Carter and his lawyer, Kevin Gleason, met with representatives of two of the creditors - the Denver Broncos and the NFL Management Association, which was there on behalf of the NFL team.
He also met with lawyer James Fierberg. Fierberg is representing the court-appointed trustee in the case, Corali Lopez-Castro, whose job is to liquidate Carter's property and distribute it to his creditors. He said the investigation will take a few months.
Calls to Carter's agent, Mitch Frankel, and Gleason were not immediately returned.
Saints general manager Randy Mueller said the issue was a private matter that does not affect Carter's relationship with the team.
The Broncos will not comment until after the judicial process has been completed, team spokesman Paul Kirk said.
Carter signed a four-year, $22.8 million contract with the Broncos in 1999 that included a $7.8 million signing bonus. He played the 1999 season and received $1.835 million in salary and bonus. He was suspended by the NFL for the 2000 season and signed last year at midseason with the Minnesota Vikings, earning $267,000.
The Broncos contend Carter owes them $4 million in back bonus money because he played just one season. Among the other creditors are the Internal Revenue Service; a Georgia travel agency, which is owed $15,000 by Carter's management agency, Impact Sports; and Miami lawyer Susan Van Dusen, who says Carter owes her $2,000 for legal advice. IRS spokesman Mike Dobzinski would not disclose how much the agency is owed or how far back the debt goes.
"The best reason for committing loathsome & detestable acts -and let's face it, I am considerably something of an expert in the field - is purely for their own sake. Monetary gain is all very well, but it dilutes the tastes of wickedness to a lower level that is obtainable by anyone will an overdeveloped sense of avarice. True and baseless evil is as rare as the purest good - and we all know how rare THAT is." - Acheron Hades, THE EYRE AFFAIR by Jaspar Fforde
If he just signed a huge contract, why don't they just push the debts back a little further, probably charging interest, until he gets some of that 28 million to pay them off?
You think they would go with something like that. But it looks like they want to liquidate everything he currently has to pay most of the debts.... then they will write off all the debt except for the IRS. Sounds like a good way to start clean to me.
I am the JOBBER TO THE STARS. You better remember that.
He didn't get paid previous salary due to drug violations. The 28 million dollar contract is the one he signed for this season and was unaffected by his drug abuse.
Perhaps he shouldn't have had Arthur Andersen doing his accounting. (Hey, *someone* had to say it, right?)
Anyway, I got the impression he just didn't want to pay what he owes people and is using Chapter 7 bankrupcy as a way to be able to do that. Pretty shitty with the big contract and all, although the contract isn't guaranteed except for the signing bonus.
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Hmm, so the "controversy" started right before the Superbowl and ended a week before the start of the season, hmm? I guess the ESPN and NFL hit squads worked their creative magic on this one quite well, huh?