The salary cap controversy that arose two weeks ago regarding the Cowboys and Redskins has generated plenty of discussion. But there will be no more of it from any of the teams involved, or from the league at large.
A day after Giants co-owner and NFL Management Council Executive Committee chairman John Mara said that the Cowboys and Redskins were lucky not to have draft picks stripped for spending in the uncapped year of 2010 and Cowboys owner Jerry Jones promised to speak his mind to reporters, everyone has clammed up.
Clarence Hill of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram reports that Jones canceled his session with reporters, and that the league also won’t be addressing the situation in advance of Commissioner Roger Goodell’s Monday press conference.
Earlier in the day, Patriots owner Robert Kraft declined to talk about the matter, citing that the controversy is now in litigation.
Meanwhile, Albert Breer of NFL Network reports that Jones and Redskins G.M. Bruce Allen made their respective cases against the $46 million in cap penalties during a Monday morning “two-per-club” meeting. Jones and Allen then left as the other 30 teams discussed the strategy for dealing with the claim.
The fact that folks have zipped it demonstrates the gravity of the situation. Though no lawsuit has been filed, the Redskins and the Cowboys have essentially sued their partners.
Somewhere, Al Davis is smiling.
And we don’t mean that sarcastically. Davis had no qualms about standing up for his rights. In this case, we’ve yet to see or hear anything to suggest that the NFL is anything but wrong. By all appearances, the league wanted to hold down spending in the uncapped year, the teams attempted to collude in order to make that happen, and the NFL approved every contract submitted by the Cowboys and the Redskins calling for payments to be made during the uncapped year.
The teams did nothing wrong and they violated no rule. Instead, they refused to engage in collusion, and now the NFL wants to teach them a lesson for it. In the end, the lesson could be learned by the NFL -- and it could be a costly one.
UPDATE 9:32 p.m. ET: At his Monday press conference, Goodell declined to address the situation.