Redskins/cowboys Have Cap Space Taken Away

[Peyton and Eli fan]

Adam Schefter‏@AdamSchefter

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NFL is taking away millions of dolllar of salary-cap space from Cowboys and Redskins for how they front-loaded deals during uncapped year.

[Peyton and Eli fan]

I don't undstand how you can break cap rules in an uncapped year, but it has something to do with it. Dallas is losing $10 million and Redskins are losing $36 million. It will be spread to 28 other teams as an extra $1.6 million in space. It will not go to Saints or Raiders who had marginal infractions.

[Zebra3]

How do you break the salary cap in an uncapped year? The league better be really sure if itself, I can't see the owners in DC or Dallas taking that without a reaction.

[RGIII]

Neither team broke any rules and the league has stated that this penalty is "not a violation" or some ^cowpatties^ like that. Apparently there was some sort of loose agreement between owners that they wouldn't abuse the flexibility offered by a capless year. The messed up part is that the league APPROVED the contract moves made by each team in 2010 without a peep and made no bones about it in 2011. Evidently, though, some owners complained when they saw the Redskins cap figure this year and decided to cry foul.

I can understand the penalty to a degree but the way it has been handled is absolutely rotten. Reeks of Goodell overreaching and the usual small market vs. larget market tiff between owners.

Edit: I should add that the $10 and $36 million penalties come almost entirely from a grand total of three restructured contracts (DeAngelo Hall, Albert Haynesworth, and Miles Austin).

[Vance]

RGIII is having a good week.

[Gavin]

well sounds like Redskins just cant catch a break anywhere, first they had alot of talent and cant win squat and now 36 million dollar hit HOLY ####!

[RGIII]

well sounds like Redskins just cant catch a break anywhere, first they had alot of talent and cant win squat and now 36 million dollar hit HOLY ####!

The good news (to use the term very loosely) is that the $36 million can be split up between the next two seasons. With some creative cap accounting the Skins could still find themselves a good $20 million under the cap while absorbing slightly more than half of the blow this year.

It's interesting seeing people dredge up examples of other teams making similar moves to pay big in 2010 without retribution (e.g., the Bears with Julius Peppers) and formulate all manner of conspiracy theory (e.g., only NFCE teams being hit hard when John Mara is the new head of the NFL Management Council), though.