NFL & The Redskins
Former Baltimore City Police Commissioner Ed Norris smells a rat! And, that rat is the NFL ruling against the Washington Redskins for $36 million and Dallas Cowboys for $10 million in salary cap space over the next 2 seasons. Norris, co-host of The Norris & Davis Show on Baltimore's 105-7 THE FAN, feels the Redskins did nothing wrong when they front-loaded player contracts in the non-salary cap season of 2010. He believes they did things right! And, that the league and every other team were guilty of collusion.
Attorney Mike Florio of ProFootballTalk.com fueled Norris' rage when he joined the show this morning and was asked what rule the Redskins and Cowboys violated. Florio responded, 'They violated no rule. They violated the spirit of a salary cap that didn't exist.'
As the then-Collective Bargaining Agreement was set to expire, most team owners were confident that they could work the un-capped 2010 season to their benefit and save money by limiting what they spent on player salaries and taking advantage of other restrictions and limitations in the CBA. The Redskins and Cowboys did the opposite.
Mr. Florio confirmed the Commissioner's belief that the NFL and teams are guilty of collusion when he said 'the NFL verbally, never in writing, verbally told teams 'don't go crazy' beyond those limitations. Don't use it (non-salary cap season) as an opportunity to dump salary. Don't use it as an opportunity to game the system.'
Now the Redskins and Cowboys take a $46 million cap hit which is redistributed to the other teams. Each team gets an extra $1.6 in salary cap incentive.
Norris added, 'I'm not a fan of either team but this is criminal conduct. They (NFL and other teams) plotted this.'
Florio says that this conduct will only hurt the NFL in future negotiations. 'It's confirming the NFLPA's suspicions about what the NFL was doing. The idea in 2010 was, with a lockout coming, we're going to keep the money in our pockets and we're not going to put the money in their (player's pockets). And, that is going to put pressure on the players to cave.'
Mike Florio joins The Norris & Davis Show every Thursday morning at 8am on Baltimore's 105-7 THE FAN.
