After almost two seasons away from the NFL because of violations of the substance abuse policy, Dale Carter was reinstated Tuesday by commissioner Paul Tagliabue.

Left unanswered is whether any team will be willing to take a chance on acquiring Carter, who became available when the Denver Broncos released him, making him the biggest free-agent disaster in team history. Carter signed a six-year, $34.8 million contract in 1998.

Unless he's claimed on waivers -- which won't happen -- the Broncos will have to take a $3.994 million hit off of next season's salary cap. Carter is 30 and two years ago was considered one of the league's most talented coverage cornerbacks.

"He's been working out twice a day for the past six weeks," said his agent, Mitch Frankel. "He's been waiting for the past year and a half to get this chance. He's in phenomenal shape."

The Vikings had shown some interest in Carter because his brother, Jake Reed, is on the team, and the Vikings tried to sign him before he signed a big contract with the Chiefs.

"There are a bunch of teams that might be interested," Frankel said.

John Clayton is a senior NFL writer for ESPN.com.