NFLPA Memo Highlights "Soft Cap" Exception as Part of Brady v NFL Settlement

While full details of the settlement of the Brady v NFL anti-trust case has yet to surface, some aspects are slowly filtering out. One is through a memo that went to all player agents today and details how there is “soft cap” flexibility in the cap system as part of the settlement between the league and the players. The salary cap for 2011 has been set at $120.4 million per club but the memo mentions “under the terms of the Brady settlement the rules relating to salary cap accounting continue to allow for a club to exceed the $120.4 million salary cap in actual cash spent, just as clubs have been able to do since a cap system was first established in 1993.” In addition, the memo goes on to mention that for 2011 there is “a $3.0 million salary cap exemption available per club at their discretion, which if used fully by a club would effectively raise their salary cap another $3.0 million to $123.4 million. The way this works is that a club may exempt from the salary cap the salaries...