NFL is 'unyielding' on Redskins salary cap penalties

Allison Joyce

Roger Goodell will not reduce the cap penalties levied on the Washington Redskins and Dallas Cowboys stemming from how the two organizations treated the 2010 "uncapped" season.

Roger Goodell isn't endearing himself to Washington Redskins fans. The NFL's commissioner informed the Redskins that the NFL will not reduce the salary cap penalties that it levied on the Redskins, causing Washington to lose $36 million against the cap over two seasons, according to The Washington Post.

Both the Redskins and the Dallas Cowboys were hit with cap penalties in March 2012 because of how the two organizations treated the "uncapped" 2010 season. While the Redskins were hit with nearly $40 million worth of cap penalties over two seasons, the Cowboys were hit with a mere $10 million over two seasons.

The Redskins could certainly have used the extra cash to spend in free agency. Washington had been linked to numerous free agents, including cornerback Aqib Talib. Talib re-signed in New England with a modest one-year, $5 million contract. Certainly, if the Redskins had cap space, they could have made a similar if not superior offer.

Washington and Dallas challenged the league's penalties, but an arbiter dismissed the claims, upholding the league's decision to penalize the Redskins and Cowboys.

Neither the Redskins nor the Cowboys were major players in free agency this offseason -- and they won't be, since Goodell will not relent on the cap penalties.