Redskins, Cowboys could go “nuclear” over cap mess

[HoopheadVII]

Originally Posted by HoopheadVII

A couple of relevant points that may or may not have been made yet:

1) The NFL's Constitution and bylaws outline the authority of the Executive Committee, the Commissioner, and they authorize the commissioner to create other committees reporting to the commissioner (including the Management Council Executive Committee). The authority of the commissioner is specifically defined (Art. VIII), and nowhere in there does the commissioner have the power to modify the salary cap. He does have the right to recommend other punishment to the Executive Committee, but punishment by the Executive Committee requires the affirmative vote of 3/4 of the clubs.

2) The discipline enacted relies on the clubs involved exhibiting "conduct detrimental to the welfare of the League." This should be interesting to prove given that the Commissioner had the ability to disapprove the relevant contracts at the time and didn't.

Now, one problem that the 'Skins may have is that the Commissioner does have the explicit authority to take away draft picks for 2) above. It would be approximately 87 times worse to give up the shiny new #2 pick in the upcoming draft than it would be to live with reduced cap space for two years. Creative restructuring can push cap hits from '12 and '13 into '14 - when the salary cap is expected to go up with a new TV deal.

Basically, if the 'Skins go nuclear, the Commissioner has a pretty nasty nuclear option himself.