With Robert Griffin III 'ahead of schedule,' Redskins' attention turns to salary cap concerns

On the day the Washington Redskins broke training camp in Richmond, Va., general manager Bruce Allen expressed no concern about the war of words between his quarterback and his head coach. But, he admitted, he was concerned about the ramifications of the NFL’s salary-cap penalty imposed last year.

“First of all, that salary cap penalty will hurt us for a number of years. It’s just not those two years because of the repercussions of it down the road,’’ Allen told reporters Friday, the last day of the team’s first training camp at their new facility. “We’ll keep the best 53 players, and we’ll probably have to renegotiate some contracts and maneuver around it, but well absolutely keep the best 53.”

The Redskins had $36 million total taken from their salary cap for the 2012 and ’13 seasons, and the Dallas Cowboys had $10 million taken away, both for what the league ruled were circumventions of the owners' agreement for the uncapped 2010 season at the end of the previous labor agreement.

Washington split the reduction to $18 million each year; both years, they renegotiated several contracts to absorb the hit. They also released starting cornerback DeAngelo Halland re-signed him to a lesser contract. Veteran linebacker Lorenzo Alexander was also released, and he later told reporters that it was because of the cap restriction.

The NFL’s deadline for teams to cut down to 53 players for the regular season is August 31.

On the week-long dissecting of Robert Griffin III’s comments about coach Mike Shanahan’s plans for his rehab, Allen recalled the team’s quarterback tug-of-war in the 1970s, when his late father, George Allen, had Billy Kilmer and Sonny Jurgensen fighting for the starting job.

“I don’t see a controversy at all. I know somehow Billy and Sonny are laughing that we creating a quarterback controversy with Robert Griffin,’’ Bruce Allen said. “But we have a very competitive player who’s dying to play football and we have a very experienced coach who is doing the right thing.”

Allen said that Griffin is “ahead of schedule” and added, “I think if Coach wants to progress him over the next couple of weeks, he will but we’ve had no setbacks so far.’’ He knocked on wood while continuing, “The goal is for him to play in Week 1. I don’t know if it will happen.”

by David Steele Sporting News