Redskins, Cowboys could go “nuclear” over cap mess

[SBXVII]

The facts:

The warnings

I remember the NFL Management Council starting to advise clubs as far back as 2007 that, in the event of an uncapped year, they could not press “File Delete” in 2010.

These warnings continued with more urgency in 2009, that it would be “taking unfair advantage” of the uncapped year in gaining a competitive edge by Cap-dumping into a year without a Cap.

Let’s look at the arguments from each side.

Warnings

◦The Cowboys and Redskins will argue that there were no written warnings against what they did.
◦The NFL will argue that there were repeated and strident verbal warnings as far back as three years prior to the uncapped year.
Approvals

◦The Cowboys and Redskins will argue that the front loaded negotiations and Cap restructures were approved by the NFL -- as all contracts must be -- which represented a tacit approval of their structure.
◦The NFL will argue that it is irrelevant that the contracts were approved. There was no Salary Cap and thus no Salary Cap rules to manage.
Competitive edge

◦The Cowboys and Redskins will argue that the league should look into teams like the Buccaneers and Chiefs, teams that underspent in 2010, and their competitive edge gained by under spending.
◦The NFL will argue that teams were not advised to spend or not to spend; only to not engage in accounting practices that took advantage of a unique year on the calendar.

What the league was afraid of was teams paying a player completely off in the uncapped year and cutting them to get them off their salary and not have to worry about them ever again.... like hitting file delete. The Skins simply reworked already existing contracts. Not exactly the same warning. Although one could argue the outcome was similar and that is why the punishment.