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March 11, 2013
Redskins Park
Executive Vice President/General Manager Bruce Allen
Opening statement:
“Good afternoon. Welcome to Redskins Park. The reason I wanted to talk a little bit today was there's been a lot of speculation about the course of action that the Redskins have considered or not considered in regards to the NFL and NFLPA’s decision to remove $36 million of our cap room and give it to a handpicked number of teams. I must say there’s been wild speculation that’s been bantered around in the media about what might happen and I’ve enjoyed reading some of it, but we’ve never contemplated a lot of the creative ideas I’ve been reading.
“First of all, let me discuss some of the facts that we’ve learned over the last year in what I call a travesty of fairness. One year ago at this time, we learned from player agents and the media that the NFL and the NFLPA had reached an agreement to take $36 million of our cap room. Contrary to some of the public comments that I’ve seen from the Chairman of the NFL’s CEC committee, according to Commissioner [Roger] Goodell and all NFL lawyers, we did not violate any NFL rule – in 2010 or 2011 – or any regulation. Also contrary to the rumors and the off-the-record conversations that NFL people have had with various people in the media, the Redskins were never told or warned that the NFL and NFLPA would reach an agreement two years later to punish us.
“Let me be crystal clear on this point: There was no trial, there was no hearing, there was no backroom discussions involving the Washington Redskins. As I mentioned earlier, we learned about the salary cap penalty from agents and the media. Despite the fact that the NFL and NFLPA supposedly represent all the clubs and all the players in the league, we don’t feel that we were fairly represented in this case. As we stated before – and has been confirmed by the NFL – every contract we submitted to the NFL and NFLPA during the 2010 season was reviewed and approved by both the Commissioner’s office and the Players Association.
“Unfortunately, we’ve heard four different stories on how the number of $36 million was arrived at between the NFL and the NFLPA. Therefore, we do not have an answer yet on what the truth is on how they reached that number. The NFL and NFLPA have used phrases of 'competitive balance’ or 'competitive advantage’ over the years, so let’s go back to a year ago at this time when the decision was made to do this and let me explain what 'competitive balance’ was in the NFL at this time. We were just coming off our fourth consecutive season of a fourth-place finish in the NFC East. The New York Giants were Super Bowl reigning champions. According to documents supplied by the NFL lawyers to an arbitrator, the Redskins were 18th in the league in salary cap room for the 2012 season and we had just announced that we had made a trade with the St. Louis Rams for the No. 2 choice overall. Ironically, today, there are some teams that have over $100 million more of salary cap room than we do over the next three seasons, but I don’t hear anyone talking about 'competitive balance’ or that being a competitive advantage.
“Although the NFL and NFLPA agreement was made to somehow slow our progress, I’m very proud of our football team and organization on what we were able to accomplish last year in a winning fashion, and I want to assure you and our fans right now that our coaches and players are doing everything they can to improve on last year’s performance. We’ll continue to provide you with pertinent information at the appropriate time as we learn more, but in the same manner as last year, we are not going to allow this to be a distraction to our football team for the upcoming season. We’re excited about the upcoming free agency that starts tomorrow and looking forward to next month’s draft. If anyone has any questions, I’m willing to take them.”
On if the team was warned about how it was structuring contracts in the uncapped season:
“No. As I said, and the league and Mr. Pash [Jeff Pash, NFL Executive Vice President and General Counsel] along with the other lawyers in the NFL, we did not violate any rule or regulation at any time… I’m telling you what we know. We did not violate any rule.”
On if he received a warning:
“No. I also said we were never warned that they were going to come back two years later and punish us. No, never.”
On if the team can still fight the penalty:
“First of all, we will always fight for the Washington Redskins, and this team is very important to a lot of us. This is our job, but it’s taking care of the players [and] of the coaches in this organization and it’s for our fans. As we learn more, we’ll continue and look at our options as we go on, but right now we’re focused on free agency and the draft.”
On if the team has planned a lawsuit against the NFL:
“No, we haven’t.”
On what actions could be taken outside of litigation:
“There are various things… We have never contemplated a lawsuit. I know it’s sort of like lawyer fantasy – or fantasy lawyering, I guess you’d call it – and the different theories that people can do, but we feel comfortable with where we’re at as a football team in our mindset of getting ready for the season, but we’ll always look at our options.”
On if he feels the team can still fight to have the penalty overturned:
“I don’t know if there’s anything to overturn. This is an agreement made between the NFL and NFL Players Association. They’ve agreed to this, and as with any rule that is an agreement between the two, all the teams have to abide by it.”
On if he believes collusion took place during the uncapped year:
“No.”
On the process of the penalty being assessed without the team having the proper ability to defend itself:
“If you go back even a little bit further to following the lockout, there was a collective bargaining agreement that both sides worked very hard to negotiate. When I say both sides, I mean the Players Association and the league. At that point, we thought we had a collective bargaining agreement that was going to live for 10 years and didn’t ever anticipate that one year after that, there would be an adjustment to our salary cap.”
On if the agreement was made by a group in which the Redskins were not represented:
“I’m not going to get into the specifics, but yeah, there’s a group of people that negotiated on the behalf of the league, and the Players Association has different groups. The size sometimes could be one or two people up to 20 people at a negotiating session.”
On if he holds that group accountable for what happened with the penalty:
“We hold both sides accountable. It’s unfortunate, and we are where we’re at right now and fortunately, as Coach [Mike Shanahan] will talk to later on, our players are working with us in order for us to maintain our team and improve on last year’s season.”
On if the group negotiating for the league sensed an 'up and coming Redskins team’ and took action as a result:
“I don’t know that. We were coming off of a last place finish that season, so I really can’t try and speculate what people were thinking at the time. I just know the end result.”
On the money going to a 'handpicked number’ of teams:
“Well, 28 teams got the Dallas and Washington amount of cap room. I don’t know the formula of why Oakland and New Orleans didn’t get it either.”
On if the NFL or NFLPA ever gave any indication of problems when the contracts were submitted for approval:
“No. Never.”
On using similar contract structures during his tenure in Tampa Bay:
“In Oakland and in Tampa in my previous jobs, I did voidables with players having the right to buy out. That’s no different than Albert’s [Albert Haynesworth’s] contract, if that’s your question… I’ve done that practice before.”
On remaining options to fight the penalty:
“There’s some. We’re just going to continue. We would like to know the truth and we’ll find it.”
On if the team will proceed with free agency with the adjusted salary cap figure:
“We’re using $36 million less than everybody else.”
On if he thinks the team could get part of the salary cap room back:
“I would hope so.”
Executive Vice President/Head Coach Mike Shanahan
Opening statement:
“Anytime you have a game plan like we initially did and you talk about $36 million taken away from you, you’ve got to alter your game plan. As I talked to a player today, I talked to a player that has played extremely hard for us the last couple of years and I had to tell him he was released today, and that guy has really played extremely hard for us and that’s DeAngelo Hall. He’s given everything I’ve asked him to give. He’s gotten better each year. He’s done the little things the right way and when you have to tell somebody that they’re not going to be on your football team, it’s a little hard, especially when your plan was to take care of the guys that took care of you. What I’m talking about is playing hard, doing the little things the right way that gives your organization the chance to win. When I first came here, I promised these guys that we’re going to do things the right way. We’re going to have to make some tough decisions. We’re going to have to make some tough cuts. We were an older football team with a lot of veterans, but I promised our players that we were going to do the little things the right way and that the people that worked hard were going to stay. It’s pretty tough on me when I’ve got to tell some of these players over the next month or two or it could be days or weeks depending on what direction we go in and how it’s done that you’ve got to make these cuts for the reasons that is very tough for me to share with them. Anyways, we’ve got to make those cuts and as I told [Hall], he was quite graceful. He understood exactly the position we were in. He probably knew it in detail more than I thought he would. I actually talked to him about it a week ago and talked to his representatives at Indy [Indianapolis] as well so he knew it could possibly come depending on what the final situation was. So those are the types of things that really bother you, but you know we’re dealt a certain hand. Our players will adjust. We will adjust, and it’s full speed ahead. ”
On how much the cap penalty affected last season:
“Well, I think you can always adjust last season because we had a game plan going into the offseason and we found out just hours before that we did have this fine, so every contract, unrestricted contracts, we had our franchise tag, and you make those commitments prior to the free agency so those were already in effect. We couldn’t go back on those. We [had] already made a trade. So our financial commitment was already there. That will be really affected this year more so then it was last year with the addition of some of our signings with [Stephen] Bowen and [Barry] Cofield and Pierre Garçon and Josh Morgan, a few of the guys that were instrumental in our success this year. The bulk of it, obviously, we’ve got to get down to it here very quickly.”
On what $18 million represents in terms of players:
“I think if you go on any football team and you take a look at $18 million or $36 million, you’ll take off the best, maybe, six to eight players on each team. I could go through the Super Bowl teams, and I could talk about Baltimore and I could talk about San Francisco, and if you went through $36 million on each team, it would probably overwhelm you on how many of those players make up $36 million, 30 percent of your total revenue.
On if the team will make any other roster moves today:
“We won’t make any plans today. I can’t say that for sure. We’re talking to people right now. We’ve got a game plan. We will adjust, like I said. We’re dealt a pretty tough hand, but we’ve got some good football players. We’ve got some great character on this football team and we’ll fight through it and we’ll have to deal with it on a day-to-day basis. I can’t tell you right now exactly what contracts we’re going to do but we do have a game plan and once free agency starts we’ll try to make the proper adjustments and put the best football team together. The one thing I am very excited about is some of the players we have already signed. We’ve signed a lot of restricted guys and we’ve done it over the weekend, guys that have come up and stepped up. They want to be here. It’s very encouraging. Very young. I think we’ve got an excellent future in store. We’ve got a couple of bumps along the way here but we’ll make it through.”
On how the team was able to better prepare for the cap penalty this year:
“Well, I think you have to have a game plan for everything. I’ve been in this league for a while and I don’t mind bad news. Anytime you’re a head football coach, you have to tell some people some situations that are out there that you don’t like to do. If you’re dealing with players, if you’re dealing with coaches. Some people you have to release, some people you have to fire and it’s very tough. So I understand that the commissioner had a very tough decision to make. The only thing that I’m disappointed in is that I didn’t find out going toward the third year anything about it. Those are the things that disappoint me.”
On if the team can still accomplish its plan this offseason without $18 million:
“Obviously we’re dealt a certain hand and we’re going to deal with it and we’re going to do the best job we possibly can. We’ve got some excellent free agents, some excellent draft choices over the last few years. Thank God our draft choices have worked out because we’ve got some character. We’ve got some players. We did a lot of good things offensively and defensively, especially defensively in the second half of the season. A lot of those people will still be with our football team so I’ve got some high expectations even though there will be a few bumps.”
On the perspective of how different the plans were with the full salary cap figure:
“I think I shared that with you. Anytime you take $36 million away from a football team, you’re dealing with maybe anywhere from five to eight of the best football players on the team, especially when you take a look at the structure of a contract.”
On if he’s able to fully let the penalty go emotionally and if there were teams he enjoyed beating more than others because of the penalty:
“The answer to the second question is yes [laughter]. No, you’ve always got to plan. You’ve always got to plan everything you do. You deal with that plan, you deal with the elements. It’s not always a perfect scenario but we’re going to deal with it. As I said, we’ve had some great draft choices, some excellent free agents, not as much money as we’d like to have but we’re taking care of some of our older players and obviously go out and compete with some of the new free agents. I like what we’ve got. As I’ve told you, we’ve got a lot of character on this football team, a lot of guys going in the same direction, so I look forward to the challenge.”
On if he shared Bruce Allen’s optimism about getting some of the cap penalty money back before the start of free agency:
“I had a lot of hope that we’d have money back, yeah, a lot of hope. At least I don’t think we did anything wrong. You take a look at any contract, you take a look at the scenario that we’ve been through, but obviously there’s a disagreement there. But yeah, I was hoping we’d get some of that back.”
On when he lost hope that the team would get some of the cap penalty money back:
“A couple hours ago [laughter]. But there’s still hope. You never know what may happen.”
On if he talked to DeAngelo Hall about possibly taking a pay cut:
“There are always those possibilities, but what I don’t want to do is take away from a guy that’s got a chance to make more money than we’re able to offer him. You know, he’s played extremely hard and he’s done everything I’ve asked him to do. I’m sure he’s going to test out the market and after he does we’ll see where he’s at. I want to be able to take care of the people that have taken care of us and at least give them a fair chance to take a look at what the market value is.”
On if he’d be open to bringing Hall back:
“Yes, yes I would.”
On if the team has released any other players:
“No, not at this time.”
On if the team is restructuring wide receiver Santana Moss’ contract:
“No, not at this time. Like I said, I think everyone knows the numbers and we are going to have to restructure a number of people. I just don’t want to go through restructuring. Obviously, there was not a commitment from both sides because of the situation we are in and we plan to get it done.”
On if there were warnings from the NFL going into the uncapped season:
“I can’t really answer that because I’m only at one meeting a year and I’m not part of that meeting. But I do remember the owners coming back, when they were in Florida and right before they agreed on the CBA, the owners talked about not looking back in the past but looking forward, 'what has ever been done in the past, it’s over with, we’re going to sign a new CBA.’ So different memos within the organization, but I was not at those meetings.”
On quarterback Robert Griffin III, tight end Fred Davis and linebacker Brian Orapko:
“Well, Robert is doing well. He’s getting some great work in here, working out a couple times a day, about six hours a day, six, seven hours. He is ahead of schedule according to [Head Athletic Trainer] Larry [Hess]. That means the muscles are stronger than they anticipated and he is doing everything he can to be ready for this season. Is he going to be ready? I have no idea. I’m sure keeping my fingers crossed and if work has anything to do with it, he probably will. But I will be able to tell you more about that in July. Fred Davis, same thing. He is working extremely hard doing everything we were hoping that he would be able to do at this time. He is not ready yet but he will be ready for this season, I do not think there will be any setbacks but I have not gotten a chance to see Fred run. You can tell he is in great shape. [Orakpo] is doing great. He is in Austin, [Texas]; he is working out with [linebacker] Keenan [Robinson]. He is feeling really good. Keenan is making some strides as well. He should be back ready to go with no setbacks.”
On if any more moves are needed before tomorrow’s 4 p.m. deadline to be under the salary cap:
“No, we are about $1 million under the cap right now but if we do make some moves, obviously some people have to be released to add some people on our football team.”
On if there are any similarities between this offseason and his first offseason with the Redskins:
“It is a lot different but you deal with the situation at hand. The first year, you had to have six credited seasons to be a free agent. There were a lot of players out there at that time. The second year we had the lockout. The next two years we have the penalty charge. It has been an interesting four years but I am proud of the guys we’ve got here. Everybody is doing the things that give you the chance to win. I want to look at some of the things we’ve done on both sides of the ball, as well as special teams. I am very proud of the guys and hopefully we will play much better next year. I think we have the capabilities to do that and I think we have the type of guys to do that.”
On what made him lose hope a couple of hours ago:
“Oh, I was just kidding about a couple hours ago. I was really hoping the last 24 hours we would get some good news from the NFL, that they would look at our situation and possibly give us some cap back but that did not happen.”
On if restructuring players’ contracts is simple or if it is a case-by-case basis:
“Well, it is a case-by-case basis. They have to do what is best for them and I understand that. We have got some guys that I feel very fond of, that if they would like to do that I would love to have them back. I understand their situations as well. They are trying to take care of their families and find the best situation for them. Sometimes that situation will be with us, other times they will have to go elsewhere to have the best possible contract for them. So each one is a little different.”
On what being able to negotiate with agents during the past three days helped the team accomplish:
“You just get a chance to talk to different agents. Sometimes there is some posturing going back and forth; to see if somebody is willing to sign for a certain amount of money, and there are a lot of things that go on. But our situation is a little different, we’re not able to go out in free agency and we might be able to do it for one guy or two guys depending on what the money is. That is just the hand we were dealt and are dealing with.”
On if he was able to outline more creative deals:
“If you get too creative, it comes back to haunt you. We try to do things the right way, not try to structure things out into the future where it comes back to bite you three [or] four years from now. You do that, you don’t do things the right way. You’ve got to deal with the situation. We are not going to mortgage the future because of something that has been done to us today. Hopefully we can find the right guys to fit. We might have to do one or two [contract restructuring], you never know what the situation may be. You deal with the best interest of your organization and your football team.”
On how the team selects which contracts to restructure:
“Well, you could probably answer that one for me. If you are going to restructure a guy’s contract, you are hoping that guy will be on your team for [that] length of time. That is usually the guys you do it with.”
On linebacker Lorenzo Alexander:
“You know, same thing we have talked about with free agency, that doesn’t change. You always want to sign your players and Lorenzo has been a big part of this organization. I hope we can compete with people financially but at the same time you have to do what is right for him and his family. But we’ll find out and see if we are in the ballpark and hopefully we are.”
On from where he thinks Hall’s replacement will come:
“Well, you’ve got the draft. We got extra draft choices, we’ve got an extra fifth rounder. We don’t have the first rounder but we’ve got a chance to get some players there. We will wait until more of the end of the draft, even though there might be a player early and we will add depth to our football team. We do have 60 guys on our team right now that are ready to go. We’ve got 30 more left and we will get to those through the draft and possibly free agency or possibly guys that are out there that someone might not have the same level of skill that we think they have, so we will have them on our football team.”
On how the restricted free agent signings were affected by the salary cap penalty:
“I don’t think they were affected at all. If people want to be with us, maybe they give us a little bit of a discount, but at the same time, their agent represents these guys, they are going to do what is right for them and hopefully what is right for us. The guys we were able to get are quality guys, everything that you look for in players. Those are the type of guys you keep. You want to reward the guys that have worked for you extremely hard before you go elsewhere and I thought we were able to do that.”
On if continuity is more important given the situation:
“Well, you always want to have continuity if you can. You want to have the right guys on your football team. The guys that give you a chance to have success this year, you keep those guys if you can. That is where our game plan is. Sometimes it doesn’t always work out that way, but for any organization to have success, that is one of the keys.”
On linebacker London Fletcher coming back for another season and if the team approached him about a pay cut:
“No, he would not be a guy that I would talk to about taking a pay cut. He is guy that wants to play next year and he is not thinking about retirement, he is full speed ahead. And when that guy is full speed ahead he normally plays at a very high level. [I’m] excited that he is doing whatever he is doing to get himself ready. When he says he is going to get himself ready, he will be ready. So I am looking forward to him leading our football team on defense and doing the things he has done since he’s been here.”
Redskins Park
Executive Vice President/General Manager Bruce Allen
Opening statement:
“Good afternoon. Welcome to Redskins Park. The reason I wanted to talk a little bit today was there's been a lot of speculation about the course of action that the Redskins have considered or not considered in regards to the NFL and NFLPA’s decision to remove $36 million of our cap room and give it to a handpicked number of teams. I must say there’s been wild speculation that’s been bantered around in the media about what might happen and I’ve enjoyed reading some of it, but we’ve never contemplated a lot of the creative ideas I’ve been reading.
“First of all, let me discuss some of the facts that we’ve learned over the last year in what I call a travesty of fairness. One year ago at this time, we learned from player agents and the media that the NFL and the NFLPA had reached an agreement to take $36 million of our cap room. Contrary to some of the public comments that I’ve seen from the Chairman of the NFL’s CEC committee, according to Commissioner [Roger] Goodell and all NFL lawyers, we did not violate any NFL rule – in 2010 or 2011 – or any regulation. Also contrary to the rumors and the off-the-record conversations that NFL people have had with various people in the media, the Redskins were never told or warned that the NFL and NFLPA would reach an agreement two years later to punish us.
“Let me be crystal clear on this point: There was no trial, there was no hearing, there was no backroom discussions involving the Washington Redskins. As I mentioned earlier, we learned about the salary cap penalty from agents and the media. Despite the fact that the NFL and NFLPA supposedly represent all the clubs and all the players in the league, we don’t feel that we were fairly represented in this case. As we stated before – and has been confirmed by the NFL – every contract we submitted to the NFL and NFLPA during the 2010 season was reviewed and approved by both the Commissioner’s office and the Players Association.
“Unfortunately, we’ve heard four different stories on how the number of $36 million was arrived at between the NFL and the NFLPA. Therefore, we do not have an answer yet on what the truth is on how they reached that number. The NFL and NFLPA have used phrases of 'competitive balance’ or 'competitive advantage’ over the years, so let’s go back to a year ago at this time when the decision was made to do this and let me explain what 'competitive balance’ was in the NFL at this time. We were just coming off our fourth consecutive season of a fourth-place finish in the NFC East. The New York Giants were Super Bowl reigning champions. According to documents supplied by the NFL lawyers to an arbitrator, the Redskins were 18th in the league in salary cap room for the 2012 season and we had just announced that we had made a trade with the St. Louis Rams for the No. 2 choice overall. Ironically, today, there are some teams that have over $100 million more of salary cap room than we do over the next three seasons, but I don’t hear anyone talking about 'competitive balance’ or that being a competitive advantage.
“Although the NFL and NFLPA agreement was made to somehow slow our progress, I’m very proud of our football team and organization on what we were able to accomplish last year in a winning fashion, and I want to assure you and our fans right now that our coaches and players are doing everything they can to improve on last year’s performance. We’ll continue to provide you with pertinent information at the appropriate time as we learn more, but in the same manner as last year, we are not going to allow this to be a distraction to our football team for the upcoming season. We’re excited about the upcoming free agency that starts tomorrow and looking forward to next month’s draft. If anyone has any questions, I’m willing to take them.”
On if the team was warned about how it was structuring contracts in the uncapped season:
“No. As I said, and the league and Mr. Pash [Jeff Pash, NFL Executive Vice President and General Counsel] along with the other lawyers in the NFL, we did not violate any rule or regulation at any time… I’m telling you what we know. We did not violate any rule.”
On if he received a warning:
“No. I also said we were never warned that they were going to come back two years later and punish us. No, never.”
On if the team can still fight the penalty:
“First of all, we will always fight for the Washington Redskins, and this team is very important to a lot of us. This is our job, but it’s taking care of the players [and] of the coaches in this organization and it’s for our fans. As we learn more, we’ll continue and look at our options as we go on, but right now we’re focused on free agency and the draft.”
On if the team has planned a lawsuit against the NFL:
“No, we haven’t.”
On what actions could be taken outside of litigation:
“There are various things… We have never contemplated a lawsuit. I know it’s sort of like lawyer fantasy – or fantasy lawyering, I guess you’d call it – and the different theories that people can do, but we feel comfortable with where we’re at as a football team in our mindset of getting ready for the season, but we’ll always look at our options.”
On if he feels the team can still fight to have the penalty overturned:
“I don’t know if there’s anything to overturn. This is an agreement made between the NFL and NFL Players Association. They’ve agreed to this, and as with any rule that is an agreement between the two, all the teams have to abide by it.”
On if he believes collusion took place during the uncapped year:
“No.”
On the process of the penalty being assessed without the team having the proper ability to defend itself:
“If you go back even a little bit further to following the lockout, there was a collective bargaining agreement that both sides worked very hard to negotiate. When I say both sides, I mean the Players Association and the league. At that point, we thought we had a collective bargaining agreement that was going to live for 10 years and didn’t ever anticipate that one year after that, there would be an adjustment to our salary cap.”
On if the agreement was made by a group in which the Redskins were not represented:
“I’m not going to get into the specifics, but yeah, there’s a group of people that negotiated on the behalf of the league, and the Players Association has different groups. The size sometimes could be one or two people up to 20 people at a negotiating session.”
On if he holds that group accountable for what happened with the penalty:
“We hold both sides accountable. It’s unfortunate, and we are where we’re at right now and fortunately, as Coach [Mike Shanahan] will talk to later on, our players are working with us in order for us to maintain our team and improve on last year’s season.”
On if the group negotiating for the league sensed an 'up and coming Redskins team’ and took action as a result:
“I don’t know that. We were coming off of a last place finish that season, so I really can’t try and speculate what people were thinking at the time. I just know the end result.”
On the money going to a 'handpicked number’ of teams:
“Well, 28 teams got the Dallas and Washington amount of cap room. I don’t know the formula of why Oakland and New Orleans didn’t get it either.”
On if the NFL or NFLPA ever gave any indication of problems when the contracts were submitted for approval:
“No. Never.”
On using similar contract structures during his tenure in Tampa Bay:
“In Oakland and in Tampa in my previous jobs, I did voidables with players having the right to buy out. That’s no different than Albert’s [Albert Haynesworth’s] contract, if that’s your question… I’ve done that practice before.”
On remaining options to fight the penalty:
“There’s some. We’re just going to continue. We would like to know the truth and we’ll find it.”
On if the team will proceed with free agency with the adjusted salary cap figure:
“We’re using $36 million less than everybody else.”
On if he thinks the team could get part of the salary cap room back:
“I would hope so.”
Executive Vice President/Head Coach Mike Shanahan
Opening statement:
“Anytime you have a game plan like we initially did and you talk about $36 million taken away from you, you’ve got to alter your game plan. As I talked to a player today, I talked to a player that has played extremely hard for us the last couple of years and I had to tell him he was released today, and that guy has really played extremely hard for us and that’s DeAngelo Hall. He’s given everything I’ve asked him to give. He’s gotten better each year. He’s done the little things the right way and when you have to tell somebody that they’re not going to be on your football team, it’s a little hard, especially when your plan was to take care of the guys that took care of you. What I’m talking about is playing hard, doing the little things the right way that gives your organization the chance to win. When I first came here, I promised these guys that we’re going to do things the right way. We’re going to have to make some tough decisions. We’re going to have to make some tough cuts. We were an older football team with a lot of veterans, but I promised our players that we were going to do the little things the right way and that the people that worked hard were going to stay. It’s pretty tough on me when I’ve got to tell some of these players over the next month or two or it could be days or weeks depending on what direction we go in and how it’s done that you’ve got to make these cuts for the reasons that is very tough for me to share with them. Anyways, we’ve got to make those cuts and as I told [Hall], he was quite graceful. He understood exactly the position we were in. He probably knew it in detail more than I thought he would. I actually talked to him about it a week ago and talked to his representatives at Indy [Indianapolis] as well so he knew it could possibly come depending on what the final situation was. So those are the types of things that really bother you, but you know we’re dealt a certain hand. Our players will adjust. We will adjust, and it’s full speed ahead. ”
On how much the cap penalty affected last season:
“Well, I think you can always adjust last season because we had a game plan going into the offseason and we found out just hours before that we did have this fine, so every contract, unrestricted contracts, we had our franchise tag, and you make those commitments prior to the free agency so those were already in effect. We couldn’t go back on those. We [had] already made a trade. So our financial commitment was already there. That will be really affected this year more so then it was last year with the addition of some of our signings with [Stephen] Bowen and [Barry] Cofield and Pierre Garçon and Josh Morgan, a few of the guys that were instrumental in our success this year. The bulk of it, obviously, we’ve got to get down to it here very quickly.”
On what $18 million represents in terms of players:
“I think if you go on any football team and you take a look at $18 million or $36 million, you’ll take off the best, maybe, six to eight players on each team. I could go through the Super Bowl teams, and I could talk about Baltimore and I could talk about San Francisco, and if you went through $36 million on each team, it would probably overwhelm you on how many of those players make up $36 million, 30 percent of your total revenue.
On if the team will make any other roster moves today:
“We won’t make any plans today. I can’t say that for sure. We’re talking to people right now. We’ve got a game plan. We will adjust, like I said. We’re dealt a pretty tough hand, but we’ve got some good football players. We’ve got some great character on this football team and we’ll fight through it and we’ll have to deal with it on a day-to-day basis. I can’t tell you right now exactly what contracts we’re going to do but we do have a game plan and once free agency starts we’ll try to make the proper adjustments and put the best football team together. The one thing I am very excited about is some of the players we have already signed. We’ve signed a lot of restricted guys and we’ve done it over the weekend, guys that have come up and stepped up. They want to be here. It’s very encouraging. Very young. I think we’ve got an excellent future in store. We’ve got a couple of bumps along the way here but we’ll make it through.”
On how the team was able to better prepare for the cap penalty this year:
“Well, I think you have to have a game plan for everything. I’ve been in this league for a while and I don’t mind bad news. Anytime you’re a head football coach, you have to tell some people some situations that are out there that you don’t like to do. If you’re dealing with players, if you’re dealing with coaches. Some people you have to release, some people you have to fire and it’s very tough. So I understand that the commissioner had a very tough decision to make. The only thing that I’m disappointed in is that I didn’t find out going toward the third year anything about it. Those are the things that disappoint me.”
On if the team can still accomplish its plan this offseason without $18 million:
“Obviously we’re dealt a certain hand and we’re going to deal with it and we’re going to do the best job we possibly can. We’ve got some excellent free agents, some excellent draft choices over the last few years. Thank God our draft choices have worked out because we’ve got some character. We’ve got some players. We did a lot of good things offensively and defensively, especially defensively in the second half of the season. A lot of those people will still be with our football team so I’ve got some high expectations even though there will be a few bumps.”
On the perspective of how different the plans were with the full salary cap figure:
“I think I shared that with you. Anytime you take $36 million away from a football team, you’re dealing with maybe anywhere from five to eight of the best football players on the team, especially when you take a look at the structure of a contract.”
On if he’s able to fully let the penalty go emotionally and if there were teams he enjoyed beating more than others because of the penalty:
“The answer to the second question is yes [laughter]. No, you’ve always got to plan. You’ve always got to plan everything you do. You deal with that plan, you deal with the elements. It’s not always a perfect scenario but we’re going to deal with it. As I said, we’ve had some great draft choices, some excellent free agents, not as much money as we’d like to have but we’re taking care of some of our older players and obviously go out and compete with some of the new free agents. I like what we’ve got. As I’ve told you, we’ve got a lot of character on this football team, a lot of guys going in the same direction, so I look forward to the challenge.”
On if he shared Bruce Allen’s optimism about getting some of the cap penalty money back before the start of free agency:
“I had a lot of hope that we’d have money back, yeah, a lot of hope. At least I don’t think we did anything wrong. You take a look at any contract, you take a look at the scenario that we’ve been through, but obviously there’s a disagreement there. But yeah, I was hoping we’d get some of that back.”
On when he lost hope that the team would get some of the cap penalty money back:
“A couple hours ago [laughter]. But there’s still hope. You never know what may happen.”
On if he talked to DeAngelo Hall about possibly taking a pay cut:
“There are always those possibilities, but what I don’t want to do is take away from a guy that’s got a chance to make more money than we’re able to offer him. You know, he’s played extremely hard and he’s done everything I’ve asked him to do. I’m sure he’s going to test out the market and after he does we’ll see where he’s at. I want to be able to take care of the people that have taken care of us and at least give them a fair chance to take a look at what the market value is.”
On if he’d be open to bringing Hall back:
“Yes, yes I would.”
On if the team has released any other players:
“No, not at this time.”
On if the team is restructuring wide receiver Santana Moss’ contract:
“No, not at this time. Like I said, I think everyone knows the numbers and we are going to have to restructure a number of people. I just don’t want to go through restructuring. Obviously, there was not a commitment from both sides because of the situation we are in and we plan to get it done.”
On if there were warnings from the NFL going into the uncapped season:
“I can’t really answer that because I’m only at one meeting a year and I’m not part of that meeting. But I do remember the owners coming back, when they were in Florida and right before they agreed on the CBA, the owners talked about not looking back in the past but looking forward, 'what has ever been done in the past, it’s over with, we’re going to sign a new CBA.’ So different memos within the organization, but I was not at those meetings.”
On quarterback Robert Griffin III, tight end Fred Davis and linebacker Brian Orapko:
“Well, Robert is doing well. He’s getting some great work in here, working out a couple times a day, about six hours a day, six, seven hours. He is ahead of schedule according to [Head Athletic Trainer] Larry [Hess]. That means the muscles are stronger than they anticipated and he is doing everything he can to be ready for this season. Is he going to be ready? I have no idea. I’m sure keeping my fingers crossed and if work has anything to do with it, he probably will. But I will be able to tell you more about that in July. Fred Davis, same thing. He is working extremely hard doing everything we were hoping that he would be able to do at this time. He is not ready yet but he will be ready for this season, I do not think there will be any setbacks but I have not gotten a chance to see Fred run. You can tell he is in great shape. [Orakpo] is doing great. He is in Austin, [Texas]; he is working out with [linebacker] Keenan [Robinson]. He is feeling really good. Keenan is making some strides as well. He should be back ready to go with no setbacks.”
On if any more moves are needed before tomorrow’s 4 p.m. deadline to be under the salary cap:
“No, we are about $1 million under the cap right now but if we do make some moves, obviously some people have to be released to add some people on our football team.”
On if there are any similarities between this offseason and his first offseason with the Redskins:
“It is a lot different but you deal with the situation at hand. The first year, you had to have six credited seasons to be a free agent. There were a lot of players out there at that time. The second year we had the lockout. The next two years we have the penalty charge. It has been an interesting four years but I am proud of the guys we’ve got here. Everybody is doing the things that give you the chance to win. I want to look at some of the things we’ve done on both sides of the ball, as well as special teams. I am very proud of the guys and hopefully we will play much better next year. I think we have the capabilities to do that and I think we have the type of guys to do that.”
On what made him lose hope a couple of hours ago:
“Oh, I was just kidding about a couple hours ago. I was really hoping the last 24 hours we would get some good news from the NFL, that they would look at our situation and possibly give us some cap back but that did not happen.”
On if restructuring players’ contracts is simple or if it is a case-by-case basis:
“Well, it is a case-by-case basis. They have to do what is best for them and I understand that. We have got some guys that I feel very fond of, that if they would like to do that I would love to have them back. I understand their situations as well. They are trying to take care of their families and find the best situation for them. Sometimes that situation will be with us, other times they will have to go elsewhere to have the best possible contract for them. So each one is a little different.”
On what being able to negotiate with agents during the past three days helped the team accomplish:
“You just get a chance to talk to different agents. Sometimes there is some posturing going back and forth; to see if somebody is willing to sign for a certain amount of money, and there are a lot of things that go on. But our situation is a little different, we’re not able to go out in free agency and we might be able to do it for one guy or two guys depending on what the money is. That is just the hand we were dealt and are dealing with.”
On if he was able to outline more creative deals:
“If you get too creative, it comes back to haunt you. We try to do things the right way, not try to structure things out into the future where it comes back to bite you three [or] four years from now. You do that, you don’t do things the right way. You’ve got to deal with the situation. We are not going to mortgage the future because of something that has been done to us today. Hopefully we can find the right guys to fit. We might have to do one or two [contract restructuring], you never know what the situation may be. You deal with the best interest of your organization and your football team.”
On how the team selects which contracts to restructure:
“Well, you could probably answer that one for me. If you are going to restructure a guy’s contract, you are hoping that guy will be on your team for [that] length of time. That is usually the guys you do it with.”
On linebacker Lorenzo Alexander:
“You know, same thing we have talked about with free agency, that doesn’t change. You always want to sign your players and Lorenzo has been a big part of this organization. I hope we can compete with people financially but at the same time you have to do what is right for him and his family. But we’ll find out and see if we are in the ballpark and hopefully we are.”
On from where he thinks Hall’s replacement will come:
“Well, you’ve got the draft. We got extra draft choices, we’ve got an extra fifth rounder. We don’t have the first rounder but we’ve got a chance to get some players there. We will wait until more of the end of the draft, even though there might be a player early and we will add depth to our football team. We do have 60 guys on our team right now that are ready to go. We’ve got 30 more left and we will get to those through the draft and possibly free agency or possibly guys that are out there that someone might not have the same level of skill that we think they have, so we will have them on our football team.”
On how the restricted free agent signings were affected by the salary cap penalty:
“I don’t think they were affected at all. If people want to be with us, maybe they give us a little bit of a discount, but at the same time, their agent represents these guys, they are going to do what is right for them and hopefully what is right for us. The guys we were able to get are quality guys, everything that you look for in players. Those are the type of guys you keep. You want to reward the guys that have worked for you extremely hard before you go elsewhere and I thought we were able to do that.”
On if continuity is more important given the situation:
“Well, you always want to have continuity if you can. You want to have the right guys on your football team. The guys that give you a chance to have success this year, you keep those guys if you can. That is where our game plan is. Sometimes it doesn’t always work out that way, but for any organization to have success, that is one of the keys.”
On linebacker London Fletcher coming back for another season and if the team approached him about a pay cut:
“No, he would not be a guy that I would talk to about taking a pay cut. He is guy that wants to play next year and he is not thinking about retirement, he is full speed ahead. And when that guy is full speed ahead he normally plays at a very high level. [I’m] excited that he is doing whatever he is doing to get himself ready. When he says he is going to get himself ready, he will be ready. So I am looking forward to him leading our football team on defense and doing the things he has done since he’s been here.”
