Well, it wasn’t just a rumor.
We explained an hour ago that there has been talk of the NFL taking action against teams that deliberately dumped salaries into the uncapped year of 2010.
The two primary violators were the Cowboys and Redskins, according to Adam Schefter of ESPN. Per Schefter, the league will punish the teams by removing millions in cap dollars.
How many millions? Schefter reports that the Cowboys will lose more than $10 million — and that the Redskins will lose $36 million. (And now we know why the Redskins got the Griffin deal done last week; the Rams likely would have wanted even more for the second overall pick now.)
The teams can divide the cap losses between 2012 and 2013 in any portion they want. As of Sunday, the Redskins more than $30 million in cap space in 2012. The Cowboys had less than $5 million.
The money will be reallocated to the other teams, with every franchise except the Saints and Raiders picking up $1.6 million in extra cap space. (The Saints and Raiders presumably don’t get the extra money as their own punishment for engaging in similar tactics in 2010.)
So, for the second time in 10 days, the NFL has acknowledged what the NFL deems to be cheating. Though this isn’t as serious as the Saints’ bounty system, the league still thinks it’s cheating. As demonstrated by the consequences.