Uncapped NFL Year Starts Friday Morning

NFL News - March 4th, 2010 - Written by John Ritter

Get ready.

An uncapped year in the NFL is merely hours away as the current Collective Bargaining Agreement expires at midnight Thursday. Per the terms, NFL teams will be allowed to spend an unlimited amount of money on available free agents without a ceiling that had been a staple in the league.

That means players such as Julius Peppers and Karlos Dansby could get even richer than usual, and teams could end up bringing in multiple popular players.

The league's owners and players would probably prefer a cap, because it has benefited both parties in the past, but negotiations have stalled to create a new CBA because of varying opinions in media revenue among other issues.

The deal current deal, struck in 2006, had gone unaddressed for the past several years, because most league executives believed the thought of an uncapped year was too unsavory for both parties to ignore.

Via the Associated Press, "Both sides assumed an uncapped season would be so distasteful that a new contract would be finalized long before the cap disappeared," wrote Barry Wilner. "Even when the owners opted out of the CBA in 2008, little thought was given to an actual removal of the salary cap that generally has been beneficial for both owners and players."

Although teams will be allowed to spend more, the indication right now is they won't. Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones insisted that he will continue to look for bargains, and won't overspend for targeted players.

"The feeling we get is that nobody's going to be very active in free agency except for the Redskins,'' an anonymous team executive told Sports Illustrated's Don Banks. "We're hearing they have significant interest in Julius Peppers and Darren Sproles.''

Then again, Washington has been overpaying players for years even with the salary cap.

The New York Jets have opted to cut loose leading-rusher Thomas Jones instead of paying him a $2.8 million roster bonus. Team officials told ProFootballTalk that they hope to bring him back under a new contract, but it's clear they won't just throw money around to keep him.

The Houston Texans decided to let go of cornerback Dunta Robinson rather than using their franchise tag, and the San Diego Chargers blew up their backfield almost overnight.

For the most part, NFL teams have pledged to stay frugal this off-season, but no one has been tempted with a larger spending pool yet. With added pressure to win now, as is in Chicago and Dallas, it will be weeks before any of these front offices are tempted to spend a little more on the best veteran's left on the board, which could start an unexpected landslide.

It may not start out as a sudden bidding war, but may turn into a few dollars spent here, and a few there, which could slowly mold the league into a framework similar to Major League Baseball.

Then again, if the two sides don't agree on a new labor deal by this time next year, there may not even be another year for the slow mold to take effect.