Redskins, Cowboys could go “nuclear” over cap mess

[JoeRedskin]

Originally Posted by Giantone

I thought that they knew they had done something wrong and knew a penalty was coming,just not the extent of it or the magnitude of it, at least according to the artical by Mark Maske.

What were they warned of? From what I have read the warning was "Don't use the uncapped year to gain a competitive advantage beyond this year."

Well, that f'ng bs. That is exactly why the uncapped year existed - to permit teams to manipulate contracts, salaries and expenditures in order to gain a competitive advantage over other teams. The CBA contained no clause saying "Oh, by the way, the uncapped year is only meant to create a competive imbalance for one year and one year only" (certainly players thought that, once it was gone, the salary cap was never coming back). Thus, the NFL's warning was - "Don't abide by the CBA." To which Danny and Jerry said, "Watch me abide by the terms of the CBA".

Knew the penalty was coming? People threaten with illegal actions all the time, does that mean they should be obeyed? "I may not have a leg to stand on in court, but I will drag you through the muck anyway". Danny and Jerry essentially said, "Give it your best shot. We are acting within the letter and spirit of the CBA and violating no enforceable league policies."

Further, even if the remaining owners subsequently followed the proper procedural steps to impose the current penalty, it doesn't change the illegality of the substantive fact -- the penalty is being imposed for actions that complied with the governing rules of the joint venture at the time those actions took place (If my homeowners association says that all houses in the neighbor hood must be painted blue, they can't fine me b/c my house was red last year).

You can't make an act that was substantively illegal (the agreemnt to violate the CBA) legal merely by subsequently following certain procedural steps ("All in favor of saying our cheating on the CBA was okay say 'Aye'. All in favor? Good. Our cheating on the CBA was actually an approved business practice. Danny & Jerry, b/c you didn't agree to cheat with us, and we have agreed that our cheating was an approved practice, we are going to punish you.")