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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE NFL ANNOUNCES SETTLEMENT IN BRONCOS SALARY CAP CASE The National Football League Management Council, the NFL Players Association, and the Denver Broncos have agreed to a resolution of a salary cap circumvention case involving an investigation into undisclosed agreements with certain Broncos players during the period of 1996-1998, the NFL announced today. The settlement will result in the Broncos losing their third-round pick in the 2005 NFL Draft and paying a fine of $950,000. In addition, while admitting no wrongdoing, an agent of a former Broncos player will pay $100,000 to charity. The settlement ends a Special Master proceeding under the NFL Collective Bargaining Agreement that was initiated by the NFL Management Council in January of 2003 against the Broncos. The undisclosed agreements that formed the basis of the Management Council’s disciplinary initiative, and ultimately the settlement between the Management Council and the Broncos, included 1) agreements with several Broncos players to defer salary payments with interest, and 2) an agreement with a former Broncos player not to waive the player prior to a certain date. Both types of agreements raised salary cap accounting issues. Following are comments by NFL Executive Vice President of Labor Relations Harold Henderson, who also serves as chairman of the NFL Management Council: · “The investigation resulted in the discovery of undisclosed agreements between the club and Broncos players during the same period (1996-1998) pursuant to which various players agreed to defer certain compensation in exchange for a commitment to pay interest on the deferred amounts. 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 investigation also uncovered an undisclosed 1997 commitment by the Broncos not to waive a player prior to a certain date. That commitment had the effect of converting the player’s roster bonus into a guarantee, which affected the timing of the salary cap treatment of a portion of the bonus.” · “The individuals responsible for the violations are no longer with the team. The Broncos have been cooperative throughout the investigation and agreed on the settlement terms that we deemed satisfactory to resolve the dispute.”
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