Union says league had secret salary cap in ’10
If the Redskins still want to fight the NFL over lost salary cap space, they won’t get much help from the NFL Players Association lawsuit filed against the league Wednesday.
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One day after an arbitrator ruled against the Redskins and Cowboys in their grievance hearing, the NFLPA filed a lawsuit claiming collusion by the NFL in the uncapped year of 2010. But the NFLPA said this suit was not filed Wednesday as a reaction to that hearing.
“What we are seeking remedies for is the collusion that took place in 2010,” NFLPA attorney Jeff Kessler said in a conference call. “This case is not about the penalties on the Redskins and Cowboys in 2012.”
However, Kessler admitted that had the union known about a secret salary cap by the NFL, it never would have agreed to a redistribution of the lost cap space by Dallas and Washington.
The Redskins lost $36 million in cap space over two years; Dallas lost $10 million. According to the NFLPA’s suit, the NFL imposed a secret salary cap of $123 million. The suit states that the Redskins exceeded it by $103 million with Dallas next at $53 million.
On March 12, the NFL presented an offer to the NFLPA, according to Kessler: Agree to the redistribution of the combined $46 million penalty or face a lowered salary cap. Multiple NFL sources said teams were asked not to handle the uncapped year in a certain way — such as dumping an exorbitant amount of salaries into the uncapped year.
“We had no evidence of collusion at the time,” Kessler said. “In fact, they denied collusion. [The NFL] admitted what the [teams] did was perfectly lawful. [The union] was told this is something the league insisted upon because they believed it was important for competitive balance. Had the union known about prior collusion, the union never would have agreed to these cap reallocations.
“All I can tell you is we trusted the league at its word.”
Kessler said the NFLPA became aware of potential collusion when Giants owner John Mara said after the initial penalties vs. the Redskins and Cowboys, “What they did was in violation of the spirit of the salary cap. They attempted to take advantage of a one-year loophole … full well knowing there would be consequences.”
The NFL claims the NFLPA’s suit is prohibited by the collective bargaining agreement.
“It is clear,” NFL spokesman Greg Aiello said in a statement, “There was no collusion. There was no agreement. These claims are totally unfounded.”
Kessler said it’s a “coincidence” that the suit was filed a day after the Redskins and Cowboys lost their hearing.
“It would have been filed if there had been no ruling. It would have been filed if it had been in favor of the Redskins and Cowboys,” Kessler said.
The Redskins and Cowboys released a statement Tuesday that said they would abide by arbitrator Stephen Burbank’s decision. If they somehow decided to sue, they would be taking their partners to court, something most owners are loathe to do.
“We’re representing the players,” Kessler said. “The Cowboys and Redskins will have to speak for themselves with their own lawyers.”
Former NFL executive Andrew Brandt, now a columnist with the National Football Post and a business analyst with ESPN, said via email, “If the suit is not dismissed, will be a long road of discovery, pre-trial, trial, etc. Hard to see this impacting Redskins at all, certainly no time soon.
“The joint statement with Dallas indicated that they will move on, although everything in the NFL is political. Dan Snyder will use this a political capital for another battle — it may be soon, it may be later but it will happen. He has a chip to play with other owners and the Commissioner.”
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