Breaking Down the NFLPA's Secret Salary Cap Charges Against the NFL

The NFL Players Association has decided to sue the league for damages that occurred during the uncapped 2010 season.

It's an interesting situation, because the NFL had just won an appeal regarding the Washington Redskins and Dallas Cowboys on Tuesday. In an article by Mark Maske of the Washington Post:

"

Arbitrator Stephen Burbank ruled that the NFL and its players union had properly amended their collective bargaining agreement and the two teams could not challenge the decision.

"

The league won the appeal but got caught by the NFLPA. Let's break it down and find out what's in the midst of all this chaos.

Total Damages

Taking a look at the filed complaint from the NFLPA, the union is claiming potentially up to $3 billion dollars in damages. The good news is that this kind of money will certainly help the players who have suffered health issues upon retirement.

The bad news is the relationship between the players association and the league. After the lockout, all the former players suing and now this, the tension only increases.

In that filed complaint, the NFLPA states in section No. 21:

"

The NFL and the Owners had secretly, in violation of the SSA, conspired and colluded with each other to impose a secret salary cap for the 2010 League Year (the “Collusive Agreement”) – a League Year in which the SSA purposely and expressly prohibited any salary cap.

"

Although the league denied the claims, this is one situation where reverting back to the pre-lockout days must happen. With a lot of money and credibility at stake, the total damages could potentially go far beyond just cash alone, regardless of the final outcome.

Open Door

If anything, the NFLPA was wise to wait before making a move. Taking into account what happened with the appeal from Washington and Dallas, the players association had a key to open the door that comes from the claim sourced above:

"

The complaint cites John Mara, owner of the New York Giants, who also serves as the Chair of the NFL Management Council Executive Committee, as publicly confirming that the NFL directed teams to restrict players’ salaries during the uncapped year. When asked about imposed penalties for the Redskins and Cowboys, he replied: “What they did was in violation of the spirit of the salary cap. They attempted to take advantage of a one-year loophole...full well knowing there would be consequences.”

"

Apparently the NFL's salary cap now has a "spirit", even in uncapped years. In any event, this was big for the NFLPA because it provided information about the Redskins' and Cowboys' appeal relating to a secret salary cap.

To some extent, this was a salary cap that only existed if the NFL wanted it to. Had no team tried to gain that competitive edge, then this situation wouldn't have happened. The NFL simply got greedy in terms of winning all cases against those who violate the rules, which blinded it from its own mistake.

Now we just have to wait and see how everything unfolds.

Perspective

It feels like the NFL and NFLPA have a love-hate relationship at this point. Even before the lockout, each side seemed to be fighting for the upper hand.

If anything, this is counterproductive, because the two need each other to exist and have to find a way to loosen the tension. Even though the NFL is America's favorite sport by an enormous margin, the future will remain bleak if the league and the players association can't work better together.

In a nutshell, the two entities are one and the same. Both always want to take advantage of violations, and money is at the core. Take into consideration the future of the game and we're almost at a dead end.

We as fans can only hope the NFLPA and the league manage to find common ground, because pro football is headed down a scary path of self-destruction.

John Rozum on Twitter.