So where on earth did this come from? Normally, I along with the rest of the league would be throwing a big "Haha!" in the direction of both Danimal and JerryWorld over this kind of news. At the same time, I also get the whole competitive balance thing, but why are the Redskins and Cowboys being penalized for making shrewd business decisions?
As many of you remember, the 2010 NFL season was the so-called "uncapped year." This was a poison pill in the previous CBA, since expired, that forced the two sides to return to the negotiating table to get a deal done before the threat of any sort of work stoppage. Well, that did a whole lot of good, didn't it? In any event, big market teams like the Redskins and Cowboys used that uncapped season to their advantage by frontloading salaries on overpriced players like Donovan McNabb and Al---- Ha---------. At the time, the pundits were lambasting the two franchises, and the Redskins in particular, for once again throwing good money at bad, trying to "buy" a championship. However, the brain trust that year (Mike Shanahan and Bruce Allen) knew exactly what they were doing, as did Jerry Jones. They knew that if they frontloaded all of these contracts (instead of backloading as the salary cap usually forces teams to do), they can pay off all of these guaranteed contracts early in their lifespan, thus freeing more money down the road for when the salary cap inevitably does return. Sure enough it did, and the Redskins and Cowboys were primed to be big players in the free agent market in 2012 as a result.
There goes that dream. At least the 'Boys are going down with us.
Basically what this is that small market teams like the Cleveland Brownies and Buffalo Dills (SIC!) screamed at the league office "NO FAIR!" and Roger Goodell in his infinite wisdom decided to drop the hammer, seizing nearly $50 million in cap room combined from the two franchises, and then looked at Ralph Wilson (not exactly a poor man himself) and said, "You happy now?"
Yeah...like freespending has actually helped the Redskins in the last 20 years........but I digress.
I'm sorry, but I don't like this move one bit, and dare I say, the Cowboys are getting screwed here too. Like I said, I understand the whole competitive balance piece here, but why are the Redskins and Cowboys being penalized for A) being wealthy because of loyal fanbases or B) the front office actually making some decent business decisions? It's all a joke if you ask me. It's not their fault the union and the league could not get their act together before the lockout. They were just following the rules in place in the time like every other team was supposed to. In a statement, Bruce Allen emphasized that every contract they signed was in compliance with the CBA as it was written at the time. Rules are rules people. Now, it is like they are trying to pretend that the uncapped year never really took place after all. The reality now is that any dreams of a Peyton/Griffin duet have now gone POOF in DC, and we better have some kind of sweet deal if we want to land a Vincent Jackson. Dallas is even in worse shape because they were already pushing the cap (now set at $120.7 million), and losing $10 million of room they did have pretty much decimates any chances they had in free agency.
Not like I really feel THAT sorry for them...........
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