Spygate Stirring Up Denver Broncos Cap Infractions from the 1990’s

Really? This again? Any Broncos fan who’s been surfing for news around the recent Spygate meetings between former Partiots employee Matt Walsh and NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell and Pennsylvania Senator Arlen Specter has undoubtedly heard a resonating theme: The Denver Broncos cheated too.

Yes, fans, the Denver Broncos cheated the salary cap. But not the way so many think. Take a closer look – even a minor, inch-deep look beyond the surface – and you’ll see the salary cap infringements were a mere technicality. And it’s the type of thing that still goes on around the NFL every year, for every team.

John Elway and Terrell Davis accepted deferred payments in those seasons (1996-1998), “deferred” of course meaning “delayed or put off.” The money they were owed wasn’t to be paid until later, with interest. In fact, the now-infamous Washington Post article (linked above) made it clear that this WAS NOT intended to circumvent the salary cap in order to get better players or avoid cutting anyone, but in order to help the Broncos organization during a money-tight period while the new stadium was being built.

“These agreements were plainly designed to help the club cope with seasonal cash flow problems exacerbated by the Broncos’ need to fund front-end expenditures associated with development of the new stadium in Denver.”

The Broncos had to put up around $100 million toward the new stadium, and that was a struggle for the franchise. They basically went into The Bank of Elway and Davis and took out a loan. They weren’t trying to squeeze cap room for their championship run. By all accounts, that money still counted against the cap. They weren’t trying to cheat the sport itself.

Is this so dissimilar to contract restructures we hear about all the time? Every year you’ll hear about players “converting roster bonus into signing bonus.” These moneys that were owed the players in that year then spread out over the life of the contract. Kinda like a deferred payment, don’t you think?

Some members of the organization cheated the system – none of those people were still with the team just a few years later. The Broncos organization as a whole received pretty stiff financial and draft penalties (losing a 3rd round draft pick and nearly $2 million).

What the Patriots are dealing with is so much more substantial to the credibility of their Super Bowl championships. They broke league rules that directly related to the sport itself, not the business back end. What’s more, it’s beginning to appear the Bill Bellichick knew they were breaking the rules from the start.

So were the Broncos cheaters? No. Did they break league rules regarding player payment? Yes, members of the organization did, unbeknownst to Pat Bowlen and Mike Shanahan. And then those employees got canned. Connecting Spygate to the Broncos cap issues is as ridiculous as it comes.