Report: Cowboys Will Not Challenge League On $10 Million Salary Cap Penalty

After proving that there's more than one way to skin a cat, it appears that the Cowboys will simply move on from the $10 million penalty imposed on the franchise by the NFL's Management Council. Docked the figure due to violating unwritten code-of-conduct rules effectively "imposed" during the uncapped season of 2010, Dallas was considering a few options. They could have appealed the decision, or they could have taken their grievance the legal route; possibly opening up the league for collusion investigations.

Instead, the Cowboys are patting themselves on the back for maneuvering through the first few days of free agency and according to Mark Maske of the Washington Post, will not pursue any recourse against the decision. The report states that the Washington Redskins, who were docked $36 million and apparently were at the risk of being docked draft picks, have still not decided what course of action they will take.

The Dallas Cowboys are unlikely to challenge the NFL’s decision to cut the team’s salary cap space by $10 million over the next two seasons, a person familiar with the case said Thursday.

The person with knowledge of the case said Thursday that the Cowboys probably would do nothing but that the Redskins “might be considering some legal options.”

The penalty hasn't seemed to impact Dallas much, if at all. As O.C.C. wrote, the Cowboys first five signings of this free agency might cost the team $23.6 million in real money in 2012, but the contracts are structured to only count $9.7 against the salary cap. This means that even with the penalty, most likely split in half by the club between '12 and '13, Dallas might still have close to $10 million left of room to play with.

With all that flexibility, Dallas is shrugging off the league's penalty as if it's just another bump in the road. Earlier on Thursday, both teams were still considering what action they could or would take, but it seems that Dallas has now chosen to expend it's energies in a different direction.

Both teams have denied any wrongdoing in the situation.