PHOENIX | The Redskins met with the NFL twice in the last 30 days to try to recoup salary cap space the team lost to a $36 million penalty, but efforts were unsuccessful, commissioner Roger Goodell said Monday afternoon.
“I’ve told the Redskins directly that there will be no change in the modification to their cap,” he said.
Goodell addressed the Redskins’ salary cap penalty during his news conference on the first day of the league’s annual meetings here at the Arizona Biltmore hotel.
The NFL management council last March penalized the Redskins $36 million in salary cap space, accusing the team of attempting to gain a competitive advantage in 2010 by restructuring contracts to move bonus money into that season, which did not include a salary cap. The NFL Players Association agreed to amend the collective bargaining agreement to include the penalty against the Redskins.
Washington disputed the penalty but lost in arbitration last May. The team last Monday effectively abandoned its effort to recoup salary cap space.
General manager Bruce Allen defiantly called the $36 million penalty “a travesty of fairness,” but he went on to say: “We are not going to allow this to be a distraction to our team for the upcoming season.”
Goodell on Monday said he had no reaction to Allen’s characterization of the penalty.
He also would not say whether he considered it a possibility that the Redskins would pursue legal action against the league outside of the arbitration process. Allen last Monday said the Redskins never considered suing the league.
Washington has been limited by its lack of cap space since the new league year began last week.
The team released top cornerback DeAngelo Hall to save $8 million and comply with their adjusted salary cap by 4 p.m. on March 12. The Redskins have re-signed 10 of their free agents since March 9. However, the only two free agents they have signed from outside the organization are veteran right tackles to contracts worth the minimum base salary commensurate with their experience.
