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July 22, 1999 (NHS) -- It's no secret that the NFL salary cap is a complete joke, as we've outlined many times on this site. After all, it doesn't take a Genius to figure out that any "cap" that allows the Niners -- who didn't have much cap room to begin with -- to sign Terrell Owens to a long-term deal, and THEN sign Charlie Garner, and THEN sign Charles Haley, and THEN probably Lawrence Phillips, not to mention their draft picks, isn't really a "cap" at all. It's more like a nudge-nudge wink-wink lecture that you shouldn't spend too much money on players.
Fact is, the Niners have been playing this game ever since the cap was invented in the early 90's. Year in and year out, they've signed their players to long-term, backloaded contracts, the final years of which were never honored. By conveniently mortgaging their future to save their present, the 49ers were able to bring in the standard parade of veterans every year to help push them to their meaningless regular season wins and eventual playoff smacking at the hands of the Packers or Cowboys or some other team (save for the ultimate We-Bought-The-Super Bowl title of 1994).
This year, finally, some of the deferred cash caught up to the team, and San Francisco found itself having to dump players to bring the books in line. The situation should have been a lot worse, but fortunately for the Niners, their old crony Carmen Policy is now running the show in Cleveland, and he saved San Fran's ass by taking several overpriced schlubs off the SF roster.
For a while, it was looking as if once again, the 49ers had beaten the system. But now, word comes from Sports Illustrated's Peter King that the NFL is finally taking a look at the 49ers' business practices over the last several years. And frankly, it's about freakin' time.
Where was the league when we were asking, just a couple years ago, where the Niners were coming up with the money to pick up late signees like Kevin Greene? We publicly wondered if San Francisco wasn't doing something underhanded to keep players coming in despite seemingly impossible financial constraints.
Beyond the simple mechanics of fooling the "cap", the most crucial of our suspicions centered around wondering why NFL players are always willing to play for the 49ers under conditions that seemed against their self-interest. Year in and year out there are guys like Garrison Hearst who turn down multi-million dollar contracts to play for the 49ers for less than market value. Then take Kevin Greene, who was holding out for pure monetary reasons in Carolina, then turned around and agreed to play for the 49ers for less money than his original contract with the Panthers. Finally, there's the endless list of 49er players who renegotiate their contracts for less so the 49ers can beat the salary cap. Sure, the 49ers promise more money down the road, but those contracts aren't guaranteed, so what's convincing these guys to risk hundreds of thousands of dollars that could be going to their own families and pockets?
We've all heard all the oft-repeated media spun reasons for these phenomena -- that the 49ers treat players better than other teams, that players want a chance to win a championship, that the San Francisco area is an attractive place to live, the 49ers are a bunch of classy guys that just want to help the team win, yada, yada, yada. But all along in the face of such justifications, 49er-haters everywhere have had the nagging suspicion of something fishy going on, because the reasons are all-too-convenient and it simply goes against human nature to willingly and happily give up cold hard cash. A lot of fans wrote in blasting our speculation as merely jealousy -- as they always do -- but now it appears that our suspicions may have been well-founded.
According to King, the NFL is looking into whether the Niners "funneled money to any players outside the auspices of the six-year-old salary-cap system" (CNNSI, July 22, 1999). If they find such evidence, which King says is "expected", a special master from the George Washington University law school will investigate the charges, and if any wrongdoing is found, the Niners will be fined and possibly lose some draft picks.
The NFL is looking into a 1997 contract given by the Niners to Brent Jones, in which a $500,000 completion bonus was "forgiven" by Jones to the Niners. King infers that Jones was still paid the money, which would have been a direct violation of the salary cap. If this is true, then the team will be subject to fine and lost draft picks, while Jones, his agent Leigh Steinberg -- who has set up similar "deals" for many Niner players -- and executives in the 49er front office are all subject to fines up to $250,000.
If true, it also would go a long way to explain the supposedly selfless sacrifices players make for the 49ers benefit. Did Garrison Hearst really sign with the 49ers for millions less than market value for the chance to win a championship, or was it because the 49ers slipped him a couple million dollars under the table? Did Kevin Green really get paid less than what he would have received with Carolina, or did the 49ers illegally augment his income? Is that what Rod Woodson meant when talking about how the 49ers treat their players better?
The involvement of Leigh Steinberg in this latest investigation shouldn't be underrated. An agent is supposed to be the player's representative, loyal solely to that player's interests, yet Steinberg also seems to have a conflict of interest: his love of the 49ers. According to former linebacker Gary Plummer, when he became a free agent, Steinberg told him point blank that "every player should have the chance to play for the 49ers". Guess what team Plummer signed with? If it indeed turns out that Steinberg helped in a scheme to bring illegal money to Brent Jones, it will go a long way to explaining many mysteries (remember, Steinberg was Kevin Greene's agent, too).
This story would be juicy enough if it just ended there, but it gets better. According to King, even though this investigation has been occurring for some time, it really picked up steam when John York -- husband of 49ers owner Denise DeBartolo York and the man in charge of the 49ers' front office -- submitted evidence of salary cap circumvention by the 49ers to the league office. These alleged wrongdoings were committed late in the tenure of Policy and deposed 49er owner/felon Eddie DeBartolo, Denise's brother, who has been quite vocal in his attempts to regain control of the team. No doubt, this is a move by the Yorks to keep Eddie from getting his greasy little hands back on the franchise's reins. It's funny that they would sacrifice the welfare of the team for the sake of spiting Eddie, but this incident underscores the bad blood that exists between the siblings.
Our amusement at the situation turns into sorrow when we have to wonder where the NFL and the media have been all this time. If this investigation bears fruit as expected, it will be more evidence of the NFL's unfair allegiance to the 49ers over these past years and of the media's bias and love for the 49ers. If anyone is responsible for ensuring rules are obeyed, it is these two institutions -- the NFL officially and the media unofficially, in the capacity of being watchdogs. Of course, when it comes to the 49ers, the media is much less a watchdog and much more a dog intent on sniffing the 49ers' behinds.
The bottom line here is not what the Niners will lose out of the situation. Whatever fines they receive are nominal at best, and the team has been so inept in the draft over the last five years that lost draft picks will be a marginal punishment. No, the real point is that if the 49ers are found guilty of such charges, it will validate what we've been saying for years, and it will feed the ever-growing giant ink blot on their accomplishments.
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created: July 22, 1999
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