Charles Rodgers ordered to pay back signing bonus

[Guiness]

http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/news;_ylt=Agr_Gt1cefc4HYaBvHXBQo3sYNAF?slug=ap-lions-rogers


DETROIT (AP)—A judge says former Detroit Lions receiver Charles Rogers(notes) must repay $6.1 million to the team.

Rogers was suspended for substance abuse in 2005 and was released by the Lions the next year. The team has been trying to recoup two-thirds of his $9.1 million signing bonus.

U.S. District Judge Julian Abele Cook said Monday the money must be repaid. An NFL arbitrator made the same conclusion in 2008.

Lions attorney Thomas Bruetsch (BROOTCH) declined to comment on Tuesday. Michael Cafferty, a lawyer for Rogers, says his client would like to play football in Canada and share some of his pay with Detroit.

Rogers was the second pick in the 2003 NFL draft. In January, the former Michigan State star was sentenced to 93 days in jail for violating a court order to stay sober.

As mentioned in the comments below, this guy has NO money.

[Brandon494]

Anyone remember this? :lol:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kx6u5DhuGxw

[ND72]

Anyone remember this? :lol:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kx6u5DhuGxw

Greatest Madden Commerical EVER!!! My college roommate & I at draft time always sing this song.

I just love Ray Lewis....SING IT!

[Fritz]

He was a prima donna eff-up at State. He had the world in his hand, but he pooped in his hand instead.

[Scott Campbell]

He must have really pissed them off, because even though they won the legal battle, you can't extract blood from a rock. It seems like a giant waste of money.

[ND72]

He was a prima donna eff-up at State. He had the world in his hand, but he pooped in his hand instead.


Funny story...weirdly enough my future college roommate and I went on the same recruitment trip to Michigan State. On that trip were 2 future known guys, Charles Rogers and T.J. Duckett. First off, the trip was those 2 went with all the position coaches, and sat in club boxes, the rest of us went with like assistant position coaches, and sat in the bleachers.

So on that trip, we also saw/met Plaxico Burress...about the biggest walking idiot/thug I've ever seen in my life.

And then without knowing it, my future college roommate & I ended up being roommates at Winona State.

[Gunakor]

Funny. Charles Rogers is ORDERED to give back 2/3 of his signing bonus even though he doesn't have any money to give back, but Javon Walker wasn't even allowed to do so willingly when he could easily afford to. Neither did anything to earn that money, so I'm having difficulty understanding the difference between the two.

[Scott Campbell]

Funny. Charles Rogers is ORDERED to give back 2/3 of his signing bonus even though he doesn't have any money to give back, but Javon Walker wasn't even allowed to do so willingly when he could easily afford to. Neither did anything to earn that money, so I'm having difficulty understanding the difference between the two.



I wonder if the CBA even allows players to give back money like that?

[Gunakor]

Funny. Charles Rogers is ORDERED to give back 2/3 of his signing bonus even though he doesn't have any money to give back, but Javon Walker wasn't even allowed to do so willingly when he could easily afford to. Neither did anything to earn that money, so I'm having difficulty understanding the difference between the two.



I wonder if the CBA even allows players to give back money like that?

Probably not, but if a judge is ordering it they can't do much to stop it. But this sets precedence. How can the NFLPA state with conviction that you cannot return signing bonus money you don't earn when you have judges that supersede the NFLPA saying players MUST return unearned signing bonuses?

Furthermore, from a purely ethical standpoint, when player A has zero dollars in his bank account and player B has millions, how can you demand that player A return 6.1 million dollars of his unearned signing bonus while allowing the union to bar player B from returning his unearned bonus of his own free will?

[sharpe1027]

Probably not, but if a judge is ordering it they can't do much to stop it. But this sets precedence. How can the NFLPA state with conviction that you cannot return signing bonus money you don't earn when you have judges that supersede the NFLPA saying players MUST return unearned signing bonuses?

Furthermore, from a purely ethical standpoint, when player A has zero dollars in his bank account and player B has millions, how can you demand that player A return 6.1 million dollars of his unearned signing bonus while allowing the union to bar player B from returning his unearned bonus of his own free will?

I thought I read somewhere (can't find it right now) that the signing bonus is viewed as being an up-front payment for several years of service. This is why it is pro-rated over several years. Thus, if the player violates the rules before the contract ends, they can be required to payback the portion of the time that they did not hold up their end of the deal. If the team just decides to cut them, the player can keep it because they held up their end of the bargain. In that case, however, the remaining signing bonus is pushed forward into the current year and no longer pro-rated.

It may be that if a team does not go after the signing bonus, it can have bad implications on their salary cap number. For example, if they are deemed to have recovered the money from the player by law, then the amount they recover might come off their cap number. Thus, they would want to go after it regardless of whether or not the player has any money.

[Guiness]

He must have really pissed them off, because even though they won the legal battle, you can't extract blood from a rock. It seems like a giant waste of money.

Would they get cap relief because he's 'supposed to' pay back the money? Or would that not happen unless they actually get paid back?

I seem to remember Miami going after Ricki Williams for a similar reason, if they won the case, there was the potential of cap relief.

[Guiness]

Furthermore, from a purely ethical standpoint, when player A has zero dollars in his bank account and player B has millions, how can you demand that player A return 6.1 million dollars of his unearned signing bonus while allowing the union to bar player B from returning his unearned bonus of his own free will?

Totally different situations, of course.

Rodgers COULDN'T play - he was suspended, jailed, etc. He couldn't earn his signing bonus, even if he wanted to show up. The team lost the player through no fault of their own.

JWalk was prevented from 'earning' his signing bonus by the team, who released him. Theoretically, he would have showed up and played, thereby earning his bonus, if the team hadn't prevented him - making it the team's choice to forfeit the bonus.