FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
NFL-29 5/19/00
PITTSBURGH SALARY CAP CIRCUMVENTION CASE SETTLED
The Pittsburgh Steelers, NFL Management Council, and NFL Players Association have agreed to a settlement of a salary cap circumvention case brought to the NFL by the Steelers in June of 1999, the NFL announced today.
The Steelers informed the Management Council last June that the club may have made an undisclosed commitment to compensate offensive lineman Will Wolford on terms not reflected in Wolford’s contract. As a result, under the Collective Bargaining Agreement, the Management Council initiated a special master proceeding to investigate the matter.
As a result of this settlement, the proceeding is now dismissed.
The settlement requires the Steelers to make a payment of $550,000, with $400,000 of it to be paid to Wolford. The remaining $150,000 will be paid to the NFL as a fine. The $400,000 will be counted against the Steelers’ salary cap. In addition, the Steelers will forfeit their third-round selection in the 2001 draft. It was determined that the undisclosed commitment was not known to Wolford’s agent at the time it was made.
The undisclosed commitment to Wolford violated the salary cap provisions of the Collective Bargaining Agreement, which bar any and all undisclosed agreements, commitments or understandings relating to compensation between NFL clubs and players.
"The salary cap provisions of the CBA are designed to create a level playing field for all clubs," NFL Executive President and Management Council Chairman Harold Henderson said. "Undisclosed compensation arrangements undermine that level playing field and provide the club involved with an unfair advantage. For that reason, the Management Council is committed to investigating thoroughly, and to pursuing aggressively, any and all allegations of salary cap violations. In my judgment, this settlement, which takes into account the Steelers’ cooperation and their having brought this matter to the league’s attention, represents a fair resolution of the dispute."
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