Washington Redskins fans have a new villain: New York Giants co-owner John Mara. The Dallas Cowboys and Redskins are fighting salary cap penalties because they failed to adhere to unwritten guidelines by front-loading contracts during the uncapped 2010 season. It doesn’t matter that other teams also did it, sometimes almost as badly. They weren’t on double-secret probation like Dallas and Washington.
Mara all but revealed at the owners meetings Monday that he was behind the backroom double dealing. The chairman of the NFL Management Council Executive Committee said the two teams were “lucky” they weren’t completely smacked down — as if losing $18 million against the salary cap for two straight years is nothing given it cost Washington a chance at a couple free agents. Mara carries enormous clout leaguewide, and this doesn’t happen without his approval.
“I thought the penalties imposed were proper,” Mara told ESPN.com. “What they did was in violation of the spirit of the salary cap. They attempted to take advantage of a one-year loophole, and quite frankly, I think they’re lucky they didn’t lose draft picks. … They attempted to take advantage of it knowing full well there would be consequences.”
What this is really all about is old money vs. new money. While Dallas owner Jerry Jones and Snyder have been around 24 and 13 years, respectively, they’re still considered outsiders by many owners, including Mara, whose family was among the NFL’s founders.
Owners such as Mara have waited years for a chance to sucker-punch Jones and Snyder. They don’t like how the two market their teams even though Jones and Snyder have made their counterparts even richer billionaires. Old money never appreciates the ones who work for it.
Snyder really rankled NFL owners when he paid coach Steve Spurrier $5 million in 2002. It was double or triple what many coaches were earning, and Spurrier’s counterparts now wanted the same. Staff payrolls sometimes tripled to $10 million annually, and owners blamed Snyder.
Jones slapped a marketing deal on every inch of his stadium. Owners saw it as garish but do the same thing nowadays. Now the Cowboys’ recent uber-stadium sets a standard that bothers others owners, too.
There are too many owners who want to profit without spending the money to win. Snyder and Jones raised the cost of business even though the Redskins and Cowboys haven’t been postseason regulars since 1996.
Every time Snyder spends a fortune on an Albert Haynesworth, competing owners revulse. They mutter of retaliation. They finally saw a chance to sanction Jones and Snyder through some “competitive balance” mumbo jumbo.
Maybe an arbiter will give Snyder and Jones cap relief in 2013, but it’s too late for this year. That’s all Mara and his cronies wanted — a moment of satisfaction.
NFC East games will be a little more special this fall.
Examiner columnist Rick Snider has covered local sports since 1978. Read more on Twitter @Snide_Remarks or email [email protected].
