What happens if teams are not in compliance by March 2 with the salary cap?

[Bill B]

Quick question for the cap experts - with the March 2nd due date to get in complaince with the 2008 salary cap fast approaching what happens if a team is not in compliance by that time? For example, lets say if the Skins have not gotten all the contracts reworked by that date what occurs at that point? Forfeiture of draft picks? Fines? Will the team be forced to cut players to get below the cap?

I know that the cap experts on the Warpath say the Skins should have no trouble reworking the contracts and I am not trying to deny this - I just wanted to know if anyone knew the ramifications of not complying with the salary cap from a general curiousity standpoint.

[bigm29]

i was thinking about that myself. I really dont know, someone on the board will know

[GTripp0012]

The owner gets fined like crazy. If he continues not to comply, the league can begin to steal our draft picks, but that would be pretty extreme.

If you're the Denver Broncos, nothing happens, but 31 teams in this league don't have that advantage.

[hooskins]

Originally Posted by GTripp0012

The owner gets fined like crazy. If he continues not to comply, the league can begin to steal our draft picks, but that would be pretty extreme.

If you're the Denver Broncos, nothing happens, but 31 teams in this league don't have that advantage.

has anything like this happened in the past before?

[GTripp0012]

Originally Posted by hooskins

has anything like this happened in the past before?

Not in the first case, but Denver's two super bowls came in years where they were (pretty significantly) over the cap. They didn't get penalized for about 8 years, and then Tags finally decided to take away a pair of mid round draft picks from them--and then give them back the only compensatory 3rd rounder that year.

Pretty good price to pay to gain a competitive advantage for a Super Bowl victory.

I should be clear here--being over the cap is NOT cheating. It's not against the rules. There are just loosely defined consequences for doing so. It was the NFL that dropped the ball (or arguably, turned a blind eye) by NOT putting pressure on the Broncos to comply with cap rules back in 1996.

[MTK]

Denver has had multiple cap related issues in recent years:

Broncos Penalized Again for Salary Cap Violations (washingtonpost.com)

[Skinny Tee]

It used to be a million dollar every day over the cap fine for the owners.

I don't know if they revised that or not.

[hooskins]

That is interesting. So if a team feels like they are young and set for the next couple years, and they just want a couple extra pieces, why not go over the cap? The draft picks and fines would not hurt as much then.

[Skins4Life101]

I thought the owner of the team in question has to prostitute his wife to the NFL Brass...

I miss the old days...

[Schneed10]

That's a paddlin'.

[MonkFan4Life]

Originally Posted by Schneed10

That's a paddlin'.

Oh my God I just laughed so effin hard ! All I can hear is him saying, "That's a paddlin'" in that deep slow drawling voice. After everything that he said.

[Dirtbag59]

What happens if teams are not in compliance by March 2 with the salary cap?

Then the ban on every banned Warpath member will be lifted, including the lengendary Kidwell. Then we'll have to deal with a flurry of horrible threads and trolls that will leave most of us scared for life.

[Paintrain]

The owner is publicly executed.

[Bill B]

Originally Posted by Skinny Tee

It used to be a million dollar every day over the cap fine for the owners.

I don't know if they revised that or not.

If it was just a fine I think Synder could deal with that! As long as it is not picks why not buy some time and pay the fine - Synder could afford it!

[SmootSmack]

An interview with Atlanta Falcons Director of Football Administration Brian Xanders

www.dennisahmer.com - ...About the salary cap

"By the first day of the new league year (which this year it's March 2) we have to be in compliance," Xanders said. "Our salary cap has to be under $78.7 million. If you're not in compliance by March 2, you have seven days to be."

And if you're not in compliance after those seven days?

"The last contracts that you signed players to automatically become void and those players become free agents until your charges do come under the cap," Xanders replied. "But that's never happened."

"It's different from the NBA where, if you go over, you have to pay a luxury tax," Beadles echoed. "In the NFL, if you're over the salary cap, then they start making contracts void.

"If you don't decide which players you don't want on your roster, the league will."