I sure liked that PUPy we bought. What's that I just stepped in?

Tandler: "By all indications there is no injury protection for the team in [Brown's] contract (five-year, $27.5 million) even though it was known that his hip was an issue when the deal was signed"

That's Rich, but it doesn't tell us why the Skins placed Brown on the PUP list.

So here goes: Placing (and keeping) Brown on the PUP list will allow the Redskins to defer the bulk of Brown's cap hit until the 2014 season when the Skins are no longer facing the league's imposed "anti-anti-collusion" penalty. The Skins will keep Brown on the PUP list, pay him this season's salary while never playing him a down, then release him after June 1, 2013. That way they don't pay him a salary next season and the bulk of his cap hit can be deferred to the 2014 season when the team is done serving out its sentence for choosing to follow the U.S.'s laws, rather than the NFL's, during Capgate.

Notes:

When Bruce and Mike signed then-injured Jammal Brown they gave him a five-year, $27.5 million contract with over $5 million in guaranteed bonus. Errrgh.

The team still "owes" (can that really be the right word) Jammal Brown $4.4 million of that bonus. If the Skins release him before June 2013, they would suffer a debilitating $3.3 million hit to their cap space next season while Mara and Goodell are penalizing them $18 million. (Same thing happens if Brown retires right now.) This is why the Skins have no choice but to keep Jammal Brown on the PUP list and release him nine months from now.

I can't blame Jammal for getting what he could out of Bruce and Mike. Nor can I blame Mike and Bruce for taking a gamble on Jammal. But I can blame Bruce and Mike for giving an injured Jammal guaranteed money. I don't know who to feel sorrier for, the team, us or Jammal, who'll likely never play another down of the game he loves and formerly played so well.