1. As a story, the Redskins and Cowgirls teaming up to fight Roger Goodell is moderately intriguing. It should be noted that the Cowgirls initially determined that they would just take the $5 million dollar hit this year and next. After all, how many under-performing cornerbacks and safeties do you need? I don't like Washington and Dallas cooperating on anything. Then again, in a world where money seems to have been accorded unprecedented influence, Dan Snyder and Jerry Jones are a deadly duo. They remind me of Nikolai Volkoff and The Iron Sheik...formidable but hardly sympathetic.
2. If the Redskins are successful in getting this penalty reduced, great. An $18 million placeholder is kind of nice for a change. If the Redskins are successful in getting this thing thrown out, they can't be made whole by simply returning their cap space next year. The penalty this year cost the Redskins the ability to seriously contend for the services of certain free agents. Let's save the argument about whether Vincent Jackson would have been a good signing for never. The point is that with the cap space we would have had or should have had, we could have bid on him. Did the lack of money keep us from being able to move on Eric Winston or other players? If so, then the penalty gave the rest of the league a competitive advantage in this capped year.
3. How is the uncapped year supposed to deter owners from keeping a strong CBA in place if they are essentially permitted to collude and keep spending down during that year? To me, this is the real tricky one. Leading up to the most recent lockout, we heard from a variety of talking heads that the prospect of an uncapped year would help get the CBA debacle resolved because owners would not want the big spenders among them running rampant. That is by design, everyone. The players are best served by a strong and proper CBA, but an uncapped year--despite all the quirky rules that go along with it--is a real opportunity for them and their agents to get PAID by the Dan Snyders and Jerry Jones' of the world. They know this and they know that, while only some of them will reap this benefit, it is what brings the majority of owners to the table quicker which benefits the balance of the Players Association. This latest action by Roger Goodell basically takes the teeth out of the uncapped year deterrent. If I was a middle tier player (or lower), I would be screaming, "WHAT THE HELL IS SUPPOSED TO BRING THE OWNERS TO THE TABLE NOW?!?!?!"
4. Roger Goodell did something that Dan Snyder and his public relations team have failed to do for the last decade. He galvanized Redskins fans behind their owner. Snyder is almost an honest-to-goodness, sympathetic figure. Fans for the burgundy and gold are waking up to a world where it's us vs. them--and the "us" now includes Dan Snyder, while the "them" does not. Weird.
5. This whole salary cap space debacle (named by Hogs Haven as "Cappin' Your Ass"...patent pending) is just rich guys fighting amongst each other. You know why this won't go to court? Imagine, if you will, one mobster robbing another mobster. Does the wronged mobster go to the cops? Of course he doesn't. Dan Snyder and Jerry Jones are mad, but not stupid. They aren't about to bring the whole show to its knees over $46 million...I promise you that. There are few things on this planet more ridiculous and less rational than a group of filthy rich, (mostly) white dudes fighting about money. It is rather disgusting and not at all pleasant to watch. This thing will get resolved "in the family" and will likely include deals and provisions that we will never, ever know about. If the history of filthy rich, (mostly) white dudes has taught us nothing else, it is that we probably do not want to know (think "Eyes Wide Shut").
6. Let us not forget that the NFL signed off on all the deals done by the Redskins in 2010. I would have loved to be a fly on that wall. You see, of course the Redskins knew that what they were doing went against some unwritten, back room agreement. Of course they knew that what they were doing was causing not just ripples but WAVES in the tight-knit group of 32 owners. THE NFL HAD TO APPROVE THE DEALS THOUGH, OR ELSE THEY WOULD HAVE SIGNALED COLLUSION. This is really the genius part of the Washington and Dallas moves. They put Roger Goodell in a position where he had no choice but to sign off on things that his constituency expressly forbid each other from doing. On one hand, sure--Dan Snyder and Jerry Jones dropped a huge turd in the punch bowl. On the other hand, they had the law on their side. And THAT is why this whole thing is so ludicrous. In crazy, filthy rich, bizarro world, the law apparently means nothing. It is far worse--apparently--to go against your fellow filthy rich brethren than to act in accordance with state and federal law. Great lesson, Roger.