Washington Redskins: NFL Salary Cap Smackdown Shatters Redskins Free Agent Plans

In a stunning move that may well have completely changed the Washington Redskins offseason plans, the National Football League punished two NFL teams for unfairly manipulating the salary cap during the uncapped 2010 season, including docking the Washington Redskins a staggering $36 million in cap space.

After mortgaging much of the team's future in a trade with the St. Louis Rams that sent the Redskins' next three first-round picks in the NFL draft and this year's second-rounder for the Rams second overall pick, it was widely believed that Washington would use its ample cap space to build around Baylor quarterback Robert Griffin III, the presumptive favorite to be chosen.

However, the NFL has now eviscerated much of that cap space and while the Redskins weren't alone in their transgressions, they received by far the harshest punishment. As reported by Adam Schefter of ESPN.

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The salary cap is projected to be $120.6 million in 2012, but the Cowboys will lose $10 million, while the Redskins will be docked $36 million in cap space, sources said.

Dallas and Washington can split the cap loss over the 2012 and '13 seasons in whatever form they prefer, with $1.6 million each going to the other 28 NFL teams, the sources said.

According to sources, 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.

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According to a report by George Wallace of WTOP-FM the Redskins transgressions were rooted in exorbitant bonuses paid to former defensive tackle Albert Haynesorth ($21 million) and cornerback DeAngelo Hall ($15 million) that were wiped from the books in one fell swoop in 2010 instead of being pro-rated over the lengths of their contracts.

It's also worth noting that technically the Redskins broke no specific rule in doing this, but Dan Graziano of ESPN points out that teams were warned by the league before the uncapped 2010 season that there would be consequences for teams that attempted this sort of salary shenanigans.

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During the uncapped 2010 season, teams were repeatedly warned by the league not to structure contracts so that big money was assigned to 2010 in order to attain future-years cap relief. They were told there would be penalties if they did this. The Cowboys and the Redskins, to a greater extent than the league's other 30 teams, ignored these warnings and engaged in such behavior anyway.

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This is a catastrophic blow to the Redskins, who instead of figuring out what big-name pieces to surround their shiny new quarterback with will now have to scramble to decide how to split up a penalty that would eliminate nearly all of their 2012 cap room.

It's unlikely that the Redskins would choose to eat the entire hit now, unless the team decides that Griffin's rookie season is essentially a lost cause anyway, effectively tanking the 2012 campaign to alleviate cap space for next season in a move that would make the Rams do cartwheels on the Gateway Arch.

The most plausible scenario is that the team will split the loss more-or-less down the middle, which will leave them some flexibility to add complementary pieces to the team. The Redskins could then remain somewhat active in free agency, although they would probably have to eschew pursuing big-ticket players like San Diego Chargers wide receiver Vincent Jackson in favor of more reasonably priced options.

That's likely not an especially appealing option for Redskins fans who were looking forward to building on the buzz from the Griffin trade. Unfortunately, like it or not, if there was ever a buzzkill then this is it and some sobering decisions are now going to have to be made.

The third option would be to put off the cap hit until 2013 and go for broke, but that seems reckless and unwise, as the Redskins probably aren't going to go from the NFC East basement to the penthouse this season anyway. Destroying the team's ability to make moves next year could erase any positive momentum that the franchise is able to generate this season, and be one step forward at the expense of two steps back.

The effect of this news is already being felt in the nation's capital, as the team released safety Oshiomogho Atogwe and fullback Mike Sellers Monday in cost-cutting moves, but the shock waves from the hammer that the NFL dropped in D.C. will certainly reverberate well into free agency.

An offseason that had begun with a great deal of promise for Redskins fans just got punched right in the kisser.

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