As has been extensively documented, the 2010 NFL season was played without a salary cap because the owners chose to opt out of the collective bargaining agreement that was in place at the time. During this uncapped year, the Washington Redskins and Dallas Cowboys spent extra money frontloading contracts so the biggest hit would occur immediately, and not be spread out over the course of the contract (presumably when a new cap would be in place). Because this made a lot of sense, the NFL is punishing them for it by lowering the Cowboys’ cap number by $10 million, and the Redskins’ by $36 million.

“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. [ESPN]

So, as far as I understand things, here is the recap: The owners opted out of the collective bargaining agreement knowing that the result would be at least one uncapped season (meaning both no maximum cap number AND no minimum cap number for the cheapskates), and then when two of the wealthier teams used the uncapped year to their advantage and threw a bunch of money at players, the other owners cried to Roger Goodell and he dropped an anvil on the rich guys’ heads. Did the Cowboys and Redskins take advantage of a weird situation? Sure. Was it 100% on the up and up? Eh. But stepping in later to punish someone for something that wasn’t against the rules at the time isn’t any better. And this is coming from an EAGLES FAN. Someone who LIVES FOR bad things happening to the Redskins and the Cowboys. I am DEFENDING Jerry Jones and Dan Snyder. Ugh.

I feel nauseous. Don’t make me do this again, NFL.