Not one day after an arbitrator denied the Washington Redskins and Dallas Cowboys' appeal for their salary cap penalties, the NFL Players Association filed a collusion complaint against the league and team owners on Tuesday, claiming that the league had instituted a secret salary cap when the league was supposedly uncapped in 2010.
The complaint specifically alleges New York Giants owner John Mara as publicly confirmed that there was a secret salary cap when he addressed the cap penalties handed down to both the Cowboys and the Redskins.
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.
NFLPA president Domonique Foxworth had this to say in the complaint.
Our union recently learned that there was a secret salary cap agreement in an uncapped year. The complaint today is our effort to fulfill our duty to every NFL player. They deserve to know, above all, the facts and the truth about this conspiracy.
NFL spokesperson Greg Aiello took to twitter to denounce these claims by the NFLPA.
Regarding the NFLPA's latest complaint: The filing of these claims is prohibited by the Collective Bargaining Agreement and separately..more
— Greg Aiello (@gregaiello) May 23, 2012
.,by an agreement signed by the players' attorneys last August. The claims have absolutely no merit & we fully expect them to be dismissed
— Greg Aiello (@gregaiello) May 23, 2012
It remains to be seen what will come of this complaint, but this will be an issue that will be under the microscope in advance of the 2012 regular season.
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