The NFL has reportedly taken away millions of dollars in salary cap space from both the Redskins and Dallas Cowboys for not following league-generated cap guidelines during the pre-lockout uncapped season in 2010, ESPN's Adam Schefter reported on Monday.
The salary cap in 2012 is projected at $120.6 million per each team, but Monday's announcement changes things a bit. Dallas will now be docked $10 million on their cap and Washington is set to lose $36 million, the total amount of which both teams can spread out over the next two seasons.
The Cowboys and Redskins took immediate cap hits during the 2010 season that normally would have been spread out over the length of the contracts, giving them an advantage that other NFL owners found unfair.
"The Management Council Executive Committee determined that the contract practices of a small number of clubs during the 2010 league year created an unacceptable risk to future competitive balance, particularly in light of the relatively modest salary cap growth projected for the new agreement's early years," the league said in a statement Monday. "To remedy these effects and preserve competitive balance throughout the league, the parties to the CBA agreed to adjustments to team salary for the 2012 and 2013 seasons."
The money lost by both franchises in the decision will be spread out among all other franchises in the NFL, excluding the Oakland Raiders and the New Orleans Saints. That means teams like New England will receive an extra $1.6 million in cap space, providing the rest of the league with a 2012 cap of $122.2 million.
"These agreed-upon adjustments were structured in a manner that will not affect the salary cap or player spending on a league-wide basis," the NFL added in Monday's statement.
