A report by a Houston NFL blogger indicates that the Washington Redskins, along with every other NFL team, will be able to spend more money in free agency than originally thought.
Most reports of the details of the proposed CBA have said that the salary cap will be around $120 million. But an article by Lance Zierlein of the Houston Chronicle's website suggests that the cap might not be as firm as it was in the past. In fact, there might not be a cap at all.
I’ve learned from people close to the negotiations that we may not see the massive cap casualties that we’ve expected. In fact, there may not be any penalties for teams who are over the $120 million dollar threshold. What that would allow teams to do is hang onto veterans, if they so choose, without penalty. What was less clear to me was whether or not we’ll actually even see a salary cap. It is my understanding that for the first few years of this deal, the “cap” on spending could be soft or even non-existant.
"Non-existant" salary cap would seem to be music to the ears of the Washington Redskins and other high-income teams. The players, of course, also would love to have bidding wars for their services between deep-pocketed owners with no limits.
Of course, if the provision is for just the first few years of what is expected to be a 10-year deal, there would have to be some restraint. But, certainly, you could expect to see the Redskins, Cowboys, and some other teams take full advantage of there being no limits.
There is not too much of a point to go into this much further until we get more details on it. But the report is from a fairly reliable source. Zierlein is not well-known nationally but he does seem to be fairly well wired. He was the first one--and as far as I know the only one--to have a solid report that Albert Haynesworth would sign with the Redskins when free agency began in 2009. That doesn't mean that this report is necessarily true but it does come from someone who seems to be in a position to know.
Comments