Rich Tandler's Real Redskins

Arbitrator's complete ruling

This is dry and in legal jargon, but if you want to see why arbitrator Stephen Burbank decided to dismiss the Redskins' and Cowboys' cap case, just click here.

Redskins, Cowboys drop cap case appeal

The Redskins' appeal of the $36 million salary cap penalty imposed on them by the leage is over.

The team issued a joint statement with the Dallas Cowboys, who were hit with a $10 million cap penalty.

“We pursued our salary cap claim pursuant to the CBA and we respect and will abide by the arbitrator's decision to dismiss. We will continue to focus on our football teams and the 2012 season.”

 

 

To sue or not to sue?

With the news that arbitrator Stephen Burbank has dismissed the Redskins’ and Cowboys’ appeal of their salary cap penalties, Dan Snyder and Jerry Jones lost the best option to get the matter settled. The arbitration system works relatively quickly, it is within the framework of the NFL and the process is done behind closed doors with a minimum of potentially embarrassing information being make public. The penalty for violating a rule that was not written down anywhere--in fact, the written rule expressly permitted with Washington and Dallas did--could have been solved with a minimum of fanfare.

An appeal of Burbank’s dismissal may be possible. There is an appeals panel but it is not clear if a dismissal can be appealed or of there can only be an appeal if an actual decision is reached. If possible, the Redskins and Cowboys will explore going down that road but it seems likely that it will be a dead end.

If that is the case, Jones and Snyder likely will have only one option left. They would have to go nuclear and file a lawsuit.

Going to federal court, which presumably is where this interstate matter would have to be adjudicated, is everything that the internal arbitration isn’t. Most of the process is there for the public to see, potentially embarrassing headlines will be generated on a daily basis, and the process cold drag on for months if not years. And the process is extremely expensive as thousands of billable hours are gobbled up navigating the court system.

From the Redskins’ and Cowboys’ point of view, however, going to court could be the best option. The league has not fared well in front of men and women wearing robes in recent years. In 2010, the U. S. Supreme Court ruled against the NFL in the American Needle case in a 9-0 vote (when was the last time you saw that court agree like that on anything?). That the league’s effort to gain a broad antitrust exemption. Last year, the NFL lost two cases related to the labor dispute and subsequent lockout. First it was ruled that the owners had acted illegally in negotiating TV contracts that would still pay them rights fees in the event of a lockout. And then the lockout itself was declared to be illegal. Only a temporary injunction allowed the lockout to go on.

The record shows that the highly-paid legal beagles retained by the league are not always the smartest guys in the room. The fact that they opined that the cap penalties would stand up in court doesn’t mean that it will.

But even if Jones and Snyder prevail in court if may be a pyrrhic victory. They could permanently damage relationships with other owners. In the business sense the Redskins’ and Cowboys’ organizations are more partners with those 30 other teams than they are competitors. They need each others’ support and votes to get things done. A long, public court battle may do them more harm in the long run than the good that would be gained from recouping the cap space.

When asked after Burbank’s ruling, the Redskins had no comment about their plans to pursue the case in court. We should find out what the next steps will be soon enough.

 

Arbitrator dismisses Redskins salary cap appeal

The Redskins are going to have to make do with $36 million less in salary cap space over the next two years than the rest of the NFL.

The NFL announced that arbitrator Stephen Burbank has dismissed the challenge to a total of $46 million in salary cap penalties brought by the Redskins and the Cowboys.

The Redskins were hit with $36 million in penalties over a two-year period for what the league said was affecting competitive balance by redoing contracts to move some of the salary cap effects from later years into the uncapped 2010 season. The Cowboys had their cap reduced by $10 million over two years for similar actions.

It appears that Burbank agreed with the NFL’s argument that commissioner Roger Goodell has broad authority to take actions to correct competitive imbalance and that the penalties were legal since the NFLPA signed off on them. The cap space the Redskins and Cowboys were penalized was spread around to 28 of the other 30 NFL teams.

The two teams argued that the league approved all of the contracts and that while they may have been give verbal warnings about possible future consequences of violating “the spirit of the salary cap”, written warnings are required for such penalties.

With their case rejected in this forum, it remains to be seen what the Cowboys and Redskins might do next. A lawsuit is a possibility, although there may be some collateral damage done by suing the other owners and the commissioner, people with whom the Redskins and Cowboys need to do business on a regular basis. 

 

The long and the short of Redskins QB's

The last couple of decades aside, the Redskins have one of the better legacies in the NFL when it comes to quarterbacks. Two Redskins signal callers are in the Hall of Fame and three others won Super Bowls.

Besides golden arms and the ability to come through in the clutch, many of the Redskins’ greats at quarterback also share another trait–they are, well, vertically challenged compared to the prototype at the position.

In his Sunday Blitz column on the National Football Post, Dan Pompei put together a list of best short quarterbacks of all time. He defined “short” as 6-0 or less and he confined the list to quarterbacks who played in 1960 or later. Of the 11 players on his list, four played for the Redskins. 

Sonny Jurgensen (5-11), Eddie LeBaron (5-7), Joe Theismann, and Billy Kilmer (both 6-0) won games and accolades despite have less physical stature than other stars at the position.

Sammy Baugh, the first great (and still the greatest) Redskins quarterback was listed at 6-2. That is the lower end of what is considered to be the right height range for a QB. Robert Griffin III, who the Redskins hope will be the next great signal caller, is also 6-2.

 

Video: Another milestone for RG3

RT's 5: Cooley sheds some pounds

Rich Tandler’s five things possibly related to the Washington Redskins and other matters.

5. London Fletcher probably didn’t mean to take a shot at Rex Grossman and John Beck at his press conference after the OTA session but he did. When asked if the trade for the draft rights to Robert Griffin III influenced his decision to re-sign with the Redskins, the 37-year old captain said that it did. “I’m in my 15^th season,  to go into another year with not having a quarterback was not very appealing to me,” he said. “I’ll tell you that.” Clearly, Beck and Grossman were not quarterbacks who inspired much confidence. It does not appear that RG3 has that problem.

LeRibeus already learning three positions

After the Redskins rookie minicamp two weeks ago we knew that Josh LeRibeus was going to be called on to play center. What we learned today was that he will learn to be a jack of all trades in the middle of the offensive line.

The third-round draft pick out of SMU has been busy and he is going to continue to be. At today’s OTA at Redskins Park he lined up at right guard, left guard, and center. 

It is not unusual for a player to learn all three interior line positions. It is unusual for a player to be asked to learn all three of those positions before he has signed his first professional contract.

According to LeRibeus, knowing center is the key to learning the guard spots. “I like the fact that they have me at center because I’m sitting there and I know all the calls now,” he said. “So just from that point of view when you play guard it makes the transition easier.”

Learning the three positions at the same time isn’t the only adjustment that LeRibeus is making. The Mustangs ran a man blocking scheme so he is learning the Redskins way, which is zone blocking. He said that the difference is “huge, especially when it comes to pass blocking.”

As with many NFL teams, the SMU linemen had assignments. “You call you guy [to block], that’s your guy,” he said.

“The slide blocking [used by the Redskins] is something we never used.”

LeRibeus seems to be figuring it out. He got a lot of reps during 11 on 11 drills and seems to be making the most of his opportunities. 

 

OTA notes from the bubble

Here are practice notes from today’s OTA session under the bubble at Redskins Park. Since no tweeting was allowed, they are being presenting in Twitter-like fashion.

This will be interesting with 90 players practicing on one field. Not much room to operate. 

Chris Cooley looking very fit, no wraps or braces on knee. Moving and cutting very well.

As the dropped back side by side, Griffin was taking snaps from a center, Rex Grossman was just holding the ball in front of himself. Trying to get RG3 used to taking direct snaps?  

Trent Williams appears to have dropped a few pounds. Middle has shrunk some. 

Josh Leribeus getting some right guad snaps. Some at center too. 

RG3 is not getting cheated out of any reps. He is not just working with the No. 1 offense, he is handing off to Tristan Davis and throwing passes to Niles Paul.

Danny Smith is in midseason form, joking with reporters on the sideline and getting down in a three-point stance with the field goal protection team. 

DeAngelo Hall not present. [Note: London Fletcher said after practice that Hall has been around for most of the offseason program.]

For having almost 90 players out there, things went pretty smoothly. There was a play where Griffin was ready to snap the ball but the defense was short a linebacker. They held up for a few seconds while the missing player got back into place.  

Hopefully during the season RG3 will quick snap on that play to catch the defense shorthanded.

Paul with a nice catch of a Griffin rope. Then a nice one to Moss as he was going out of bounds. 

Jarvis Jenkins has on a full knee brace but participated in team drills. 

Neil Rackers booming some field goals, hitting the top of the camera tower from 40 yards out. 

Rookie cornerback Richard Crawford was with Garçon step for step on a deep pass by Griffin and knocked it down. That drew some shouts of encouragement from the defensive starters on the other end of the field. 

It looks like Trent Williams is taking more snaps than any other offensive lineman. After missing the last four games of the season and a few due to a knee injury earlier in the year he can use the work.

Head coach down! Mike Shanahan on the ground after getting mowed from the blindside by cornerback Brandyn Thompson. Shanny got up and appeared to shake it off.

 

Monday Talking Points: More than just RG3

The Talking Points are going to be brief today since we don’t know to whom we will be talking. Redskins PR promised us some folks at the podium and that we could catch players coming off of the field but no specifics were offered.

So we assume that we will get a chance to ask Robert Griffin III about his first OTA with the first-team offense and perhaps Pierre Garçon will talk about being on the receiving end of RG3’s passes. And maybe we can get London Fletcher to talk about what Griffin looked like from a defensive standpoint.

As you can tell, the talk is likely to be a lot about the rookie quarterback. But look for other, non-RG3 news and notes as well. I want to see how Jarvis Jenkins’ knee is doing nine months after his torn ACL and perhaps get a few words with Trent Williams to see what he has to say about taking his game to the next level. And perhaps a word with Chris Cooley, who should be ready to go in terms of health but may face an uphill battle to make the team.

We will get Mike Shanahan at the podium but Redskins PR has informed us that we will not be able to talk to any assistant coaches until minicamp next month.