Washington Redskins’ general manager Bruce Allen and head coach Mike Shanahan held a press conference out at Redskins Park yesterday in order to discuss free agency. While Shanahan did talk about cornerback DeAngelo Hall, receiver Santana Moss (who has restructured his contract and will remain in the burgundy and gold) and tight end Fred Davis (among others), Allen had a lot to say on another subject. Most specifically, he discussed the salary cap penalties imposed on his team by the NFL and NFLPA, and what the Redskins are — or aren’t — doing about it. As he spoke, it was apparent that the subject was something near and dear to his heart.
Last season, just about this time as a matter of fact, Washington was penalized $36 million in salary-cap space by the league. The NFL decided the team had attempted to gain a competitive advantage by front-loading contracts to take advantage of the uncapped 2010 season and save cap room in future years. The Dallas Cowboys suffered a penalty as well, though theirs was only $10 million.
Even though the Redskins were allowed to split the reduction over two years — meaning they lost $18 million last year and the other $18 million this year — it was a major hit to Shanahan’s plans for fortifying the team via free agents last season and it is doing the same in 2013. It also impacts the signing of eventual draft picks.
During yesterday’s presser, Allen‘s tone of voice and some of the terms he used indicated some strong feelings. He looked and sounded like a man that was not going to let this issue go. Calling the penalties handed down a “travesty of fairness,” he maintained that “we did not violate any NFL rule — in 2010 or 2011 — or any regulation” and said that “the Redskins were never told or warned that the NFL and NFLPA would reach an agreement two years later to punish us.”
There has been some discrepancy in reports regarding whether or not the Redskins were warned by the NFL, the owners or the NFLPA about possible consequences of over-loading contracts. It is a contradiction that the NFL would approve the contracts and yet still charge Washington with the penalty, citing that the team did not act in the “spirit of the CBA.” This is something which will forever bug me. I’m not the only one bothered apparently. Allen was fairly charged up about it.
As the details of the punishments came to light last season, New York Giants’ owner John Mara emerged as an influential presence in the NFLPA during the lockout and CBA negotiations. As the chairman of the NFL Management Committee at the time, Mara had a role in decisions made regarding the Redskins’ and Cowboys’ penalties. Mara actually thought the penalties could have been harsher and certainly thought that they were a valid consequence to what the two NFC East rivals had done. It came to light that, when it was time to vote on the move, no other owners voted against it.
While Mara would not come out and call what the Redskins did “collusion,” he did indicate that Washington was warned not to assign the contracts.
“This has nothing to do with collusion,” Mara answered when asked about any sort of conspiracy charge. “It has to do with teams attempting to gain a competitive advantage through a loophole in the system. They attempted to take advantage of it knowing full well there would be consequences. There was nothing wrong with the individual contracts, but when you look at the overall scope of what they did, they were trying to take advantage and they were told not to.”
Hmm…. When asked about this, Allen specifically denied that the team had been warned that there would be punishments saying, “No. I also said we were never warned that they were going to come back two years later and punish us. No, never.”
“Let me be crystal clear on this point,” he remarked in a firm tone, “There was no trial, there was no hearing, there were no backroom discussions involving the Washington Redskins. As I mentioned earlier, we learned about the salary cap penalty from agents and the media. Despite the fact that the NFL and NFLPA supposedly represent all the clubs and all the players in the league, we don’t feel that we were fairly represented in this case. As we stated before — and [this] has been confirmed by the NFL — every contract we submitted to the NFL and NFLPA during the 2010 season was reviewed and approved by both the Commissioner’s office and the Players Association.”
Allen then indicated that he was not happy with versions of how the penalty amount was arrived at. Note his use of the words ‘stories’ and ‘truth’:
“Unfortunately, we’ve heard four different stories on how the number of $36 million was arrived at between the NFL and the NFLPA,” he said. “Therefore, we do not have an answer yet on what the truth is on how they reached that number.”
It’s interesting that the money deducted from Dallas’ and Washington’s salary caps was distributed among 28 of the 30 teams not called the Cowboys or Redskins. Neither the Oakland Raiders nor the New Orleans Saints got any of the money… Allen said he did not know why. It’s a question for the ages.
Allen described what he thinks of the way the NFL keeps things competitive between the teams.
“The NFL and NFLPA have used phrases of ‘competitive balance’ or ‘competitive advantage’ over the years, so let’s go back to a year ago at this time when the decision was made to do this and let me explain what ‘competitive balance’ was in the NFL at this time,” the GM explained. “We were just coming off our fourth consecutive season of a fourth-place finish in the NFC East. The New York Giants were the Super Bowl-reigning champions. According to documents supplied by the NFL lawyers to an arbitrator, the Redskins were 18th in the league in salary cap room for the 2012 season and we had just announced that we had made a trade with the St. Louis Rams for the No. 2 choice overall. Ironically, today, there are some teams that have over $100 million more of salary cap room than we do over the next three seasons, but I don’t hear anyone talking about ‘competitive balance’ or [about] that being a ‘competitive advantage’.”
Here’s what I get out of that dialogue: “I’ve got your ‘competitive balance’ right here!” (Use your imagination if you think there should be an accompanying gesture).
In the end, Allen said that Washington had no legal suits or motions in the works regarding the penalties and said there never have been any.
It’s hard to know if the whole charged up attitude about the cap penalty has always been the case with Allen, if it is influenced by new Senior Executive A.J. Smith or if it simply indicates a difference in how Allen feels about this type of issue versus alumni luncheons. But the strength of the discourse was refreshingly honest-sounding and perhaps bodes well for the team. If the general manager is really motivated to do something about getting the team’s money back, maybe he’ll figure out a way. And maybe that motivation to do something will carry over into some of the other things that are under his direct influence.
It’s going to interesting to see how the Redskins manage without all the money that Shanahan and Allen have worked so hard NOT to spend over the last two years. They are certainly on a budget now. That may mean that guys like cornerback Richard Crawford, some of their draft picks from recent years and/or veterans who have been with the team for a while will get their shots at starting. However they deal with it, it will probably be nothing short of genius. Their record for doing things like making their draft pick allowance go through mitosis speaks for itself.
While I hate that productive veteran players with big salaries that wouldn’t otherwise be released might be, at least the team won’t have the distraction of the big free agency signings that were typical of the Vinny Cerrato days of the Washington Redskins.
The GM did say he would continue to get to the truth of — and find options for — fighting the penalty. That’s a good thing. As they say in Australia: “Good on ya, Mate.” Go for it, Bruce.
“First of all, we will always fight for the Washington Redskins and this team is very important to a lot of us,” Allen said. “This is our job, but it’s taking care of the players and the coaches in this organization and it’s for our fans. As we learn more, we’ll continue and look at our options as we go on, but right now we’re focused on free agency and the draft.”
Hail.
Diane Chesebrough is Editor-in-Chief, writer and photographer for SportsJourney Broadcast Network. Accredited media with the NFL, she has been a feature writer for several national magazines/periodicals. Follower her on Twitter: @DiChesebrough