Players Association Sues NFL, Claims League Had a Secret Cap.

May 24, 2012 02:39 PM EDT

The NFL Players Association filed suit on Wednesday against the NFL, claiming the league and its teams' owners acted in collusion by agreeing to a secret salary cap in 2010 in order to suppress players' salaries.

This is the second time in less than two years that the NFLPA has filed such a claim. If they win, they will be awarded damages that could reach $1 billion.

The new suit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota, comes after an arbitration hearing in which the Cowboys and Redskins sought to reverse punishments from the league for spending too much on salaries in 2010, an uncapped year.

During the hearing, the NFL stated that teams attempted to gain an unfair advantage by frontloading contracts in order to pay players significantly more during the uncapped year and gain financial flexibility in the future. 

It has been reported that the league told all of its teams to avoid such tactics or risk sanctions. The NFLPA claims that this was an act of collusion.

According to the suit, there was a secret $123 million salary cap in 2010. The four teams that exceeded that number were subsequently punished by the NFL. The worst offenders, the Cowboys and Redskins, were stripped of salary cap money over the next two seasons. The Saints and Raiders were denied extra cap money taken from Dallas and Washington that was distributed to the other teams.

The NFLPA reasons that since only four teams exceeded $123 million, it further proves there was a secret cap, because frontloading contracts would benefit every team.

But the fact that teams refrained from excessive spending does not alone prove collusion. Furthermore, the NFL is aided by a clause in the new collective bargaining agreement that states the NFLPA, ""releases and covenants not to sue" [the NFL] for collusion with respect to any League Year before 2011."

It has been a difficult several days for the league and commissioner Roger Goodell. Last week Goodell was sued by Saints linebacker Jonathan Vilma for defamation of character. Vilma claims the commissioner made false statements that hurt his ability to earn a living playing football. Vilma has been suspended for the upcoming season for his role in the Saints bounty scandal.

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