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Many of you (specifically, Cowboys and Redskins fans) are wondering how and why the NFL would strip millions in cap money for 2012 and/or 2013 from teams that simply took full advantage of the uncapped year.

Per a source with knowledge of the situation, the teams were told “at least six times” during ownership-level meetings that there would be “serious consequences” for any team that used the uncapped year as an occasion to dump salaries.

The Cowboys and Redskins engaged in “systematic dumping” of salaries into the uncapped year, despite the warnings.

As to the Saints and Raiders, who won’t lose cap space but likewise won’t get the $1.6 million per team that will be redistributed based on the cap space taken from the Redskins and Cowboys, it’s our understanding that the violations were far less severe. For the Raiders, the dumping of salary in 2010 arose specifically from the dumping of JaMarcus Russell from the roster.