Redskins, Cowboys could go “nuclear” over cap mess

[That Guy]

start throwing grenades. it's crap and i doubt it will stand as long as they show they're willing to fight it at any cost.

[FRPLG]

Here's the main issue with all of this (among many very salient and relevant issues that all equal total crap):

The whole situation shows how the the NFL's owners operate as a cartel. Play by their rules or they'll put you down. There really is no denying it. There is no obvious legal justification for their actions, and there's even less justification from a fairness standpoint. But that isn't the point. If you think the repercussions of not following their illegal collusive activity were bad just wait until a lawsuit is filed from within their own that threatens their beloved antitrust exemption. I am not sure we can conceive of the reaction to that. Our "nuclear" option might dwarfed by theirs.

[ethat001]

Fry them all.

Truly bad form on the NFL, which seems to usually carry itself with some class. To initially approve the contracts, wait two years, spring a HUGE punishment on the league's biggest two teams, and to do it <24 hours before free agency so they couldn't prepare. Just poor poor form and they deserve to get crushed. Just stinks of owners trying to get back at us, and punish the team instead of the owner. If they did this 2 years ago, or even earlier this year would be one thing, but the way it was done was dirty.

I would fully support the team on this one, if public opininon means anything in this process.

[SkinItup]

this honestly makes me want to give up the nfl. A bunch of billionaires complaining the world isn't fair, the world isn't fair and they are already winning. the only way to hurt them is to stop feeding their money flow. that is all they understand.

[ethat001]

Btw, of course I know the wounds were self-inflicted. That they "warned us", etc. However, just seems that:

1) Other teams also did similar but less bold moves
2) There were no written rules that we broke. If they wanted to have restrictions, they should have written them in there in the first place. For example, when they set the rules for the uncapped year, if they were that worried about competition, why did they have the uncapped in the first place.
3) Even if we did something wrong, their timing was just a jerk move to further punish the team without recourse.
4) I get the feeling that Bruce Allen made the moves (?), not Snyder this time, and generally Bruce is a likeable guy. I'd support him much more than just Snyder.
5) Biggest of all -- the punishments didn't fit the crime. For example, if we played by "their unwritten rules" -- the Haynesworth and Hall contracts would have been restructured and spread out over 5 years, etc --> so why are they forcing us to take the hit within 2 years? And if we are responsible for taking back the full cap hit of $36 million, WHY does every other team get additional money? Why give out additional money to anyone else at all? I'd bet it is so the other teams would vote against us, I'm sure.


Hope this gets resolved quickly, but if they actually pursue this, I can't imagine a decision for months to years, and the only help it could give us is next year. IF we win this somehow, it'd be nice to have more cap next year, when RG3 would be getting better and our team could be 1 year closer to being a contender.

[redskinsman18]

I hope this gets resolved quickly. In my opinion the 'Skins have to go though with this move in order to have any chance of at least getting the penalty reduced. And I do think they will reduce it if the NFL feels this could damage the NFL shield in anyway.

[Evilgrin]

The NFL didn't look down the road on this, they should have left it alone.

[BaltimoreSkins]

I saw a funny post on ESPN. It said "If the NFL truly wanted to punish these two teams, they would raise their cap limit. It seems the more money they spend the worse they do." Of course that applies more under the Cerrato regime than what I have seen from Allen, but still thought it was funny.

[12thMan]

From whichever angle you approach this it stinks to high heaven. But the fact that the NFL sprung this on the Redskins 24 hours before free agency has to be the most egregious and blatant of them all.

Now the NFL is on the verge of losing the PR battle because nobody - and I mean nobody -- does PR and spin better than Daniel Snyder and Jerry Jones. So while the NFL may be able to stand on some very flimsy legal justification, the optics are about to favor Jones and Snyder.

[GMScud]

Originally Posted by 12thMan

From whichever angle you approach this it stinks to high heaven. But the fact that the NFL sprung this on the Redskins 24 hours before free agency has to be the most egregious and blatant of them all.

Now the NFL is on the verge of losing the PR battle because nobody - and I mean nobody -- does PR and spin better than Daniel Snyder and Jerry Jones. So while the NFL may be able to stand on some very flimsy legal justification, the optics are about to favor Jones and Snyder.

Well said. If nothing else, I hope we make The Shield look like a bunch of colluding d-bags, which is exactly what they are.

[dmek25]

Originally Posted by GMScud

Well said. If nothing else, I hope we make The Shield look like a bunch of colluding d-bags, which is exactly what they are.

here in lies the problem. the skins are part of the collusion. just not in this case. seems to me the skins cant lose if they decide to sue. here's where our legal expert, joeredskin, should step up to the plate

[skinsnut]

The way I understand it...30 teams agreed to this punishment...so it is 30 vs 2.
The NFL is more of a club than a business.
How can the skins sue?....who are they suing?...the NFL?....they are the nfl?
The 32 owners are the NFL and the commissioner is paid by the owners.
How can you sue yourself?, the players association also agreed to approve it.
This is all legit the way the NFL/players association works.
Collusion is a different call...but you'd have to argue that was done to keep pay down..can't be argued this year since they kept the cap total the same...but could be argued during the non cap year...but think about it, is it really worth it?
Sure the Skins got screwed..but they are going to pay the cap hit they normally would have...the issue I have is a couple others got away with it on a smaller scale....and if you pursue a lawsuit, you will make enemies of those you depend on.
You really dont want the NFL a perpetual enemy of the Skins...think of penalties, fines, scheduling, supplemental draft picks, etc

[Giantone]

Originally Posted by skinsnut

The way I understand it...30 teams agreed to this punishment...so it is 30 vs 2.
The NFL is more of a club than a business.
How can the skins sue?....who are they suing?...the NFL?....they are the nfl?
The 32 owners are the NFL and the commissioner is paid by the owners.
How can you sue yourself?, the players association also agreed to approve it.
This is all legit the way the NFL/players association works.
Collusion is a different call...but you'd have to argue that was done to keep pay down..can't be argued this year since they kept the cap total the same...but could be argued during the non cap year...but think about it, is it really worth it?
Sure the Skins got screwed..but they are going to pay the cap hit they normally would have...the issue I have is a couple others got away with it on a smaller scale....and if you pursue a lawsuit, you will make enemies of those you depend on.
You really dont want the NFL a perpetual enemy of the Skins...think of penalties, fines, scheduling, supplemental draft picks, etc

Agree 100%

[Monksdown]

I dont think the other NFL teams want 2 of their wealthiest and most influential owners being tied at the hip looking to retaliate at some point in the future. The other teams played their hand. Snyder and Jerry seem to have gotten closer and closer. If i were an NFL owner, i would remember the day they made the decision to step on two competitive guys worth a combined $3.1 billion(wiki).

That being said, i cant see this decision being reduced via compromise. Doesnt that incriminate the league further?

[SBXVII]

Originally Posted by Monksdown

I dont think the other NFL teams want 2 of their wealthiest and most influential owners being tied at the hip looking to retaliate at some point in the future. The other teams played their hand. Snyder and Jerry seem to have gotten closer and closer. If i were an NFL owner, i would remember the day they made the decision to step on two competitive guys worth a combined $3.1 billion(wiki).

That being said, i cant see this decision being reduced via compromise. Doesnt that incriminate the league further?

What further proof do they need? The League has admitted there was an agreement that both JJ and DS failed to keep with and thats why there is a punishment.

The whole agreement was illegal. The punishment is the justification that there was one.