NFL types may not think the cap is broken, but there are ways to fix it anyway. Start by embracing one basic principle: Teams need extra incentive to spend cash to keep their own players, instead of splurging on free agents they ultimately will not be able to afford. From there, it's just a few bold strokes to junking the bad-faith negotiations and deceptive accounting that now rule the day.

1. Eliminate prorated signing bonuses. Allowing teams to spend more than $92 million when the cap is $67 million -- the Redskins did that last year -- begs franchises to be fiscally irresponsible. Over the long haul, it wrecks the point of revenue sharing, which is supposed to give teams equal shots at contending. Until now, players sought huge signing bonuses because guaranteed salaries were all but unavailable. If players took more cash as salary in the first couple of contract years, cap money would begin to equal real money, and teams would stop mortgaging their futures to pump up the here and now.

2. Exempt from the cap a chunk of the cost of re-signing veterans. In the deal extending the collective bargaining agreement through 2007, owners and players have taken a step in the right direction on this issue. Starting next year, a 10-year veteran who makes the minimum of $750,000 will cost only $450,000 against the cap (a league pool will cover the rest). This adjustment will make some veteran free agents more attractive to teams than they are now, but it won't slow the huge turnover among players near or past the age of 30. How about taking this idea a little further? Start with a 40% exemption at $750K for 10-year players (which the league has essentially adopted already), and reduce the percentage on a sliding scale until it's 0% at, say, $3 million. That would reward rank-and-file vets and encourage continuity.

3. Increase penalties for cap violations. When the league nailed Carmen Policy and Dwight Clark for playing cap games with the 49ers, it didn't suspend them. It fined them $400,000 and $200,000, respectively -- not much of a deterrent for teams facing excruciating cap -- and fan-pressures. "If anybody suggests they wouldn't do the same, they're not being truthful," says Panthers coach George Seifert, the Niners headman in the days of their cap legerdemain. Right now, commissioner Paul Tagliabue can impose fines of up to $3.5 million on teams. Make it $10 million, and make suspensions mandatory for execs who break the rules. The bottom line? An honest bottom line will stop the madness.

This article appears in the July 23 issue of ESPN The Magazine.