Washington Redskins general manager Bruce Allen has insisted that the second year of an imposed salary cap penalty will not see the team lose their best players.

The team's cap was reduced by £11.5m last season and this, but Allen said that players who are cut from the roster will only be left out because of ability.

"We'll keep the best 53 players," RealRedskins.com quotes Allen as saying. "We'll probably have to renegotiate some contracts and maneuver around it, but we'll absolutely keep the best 53.

"That salary cap penalty will hurt us for a number of years. It's just not those two years because of the repercussions of it down the road."

Allen recently denied a rift between quarterback Robert Griffin III and head coach Mike Shanahan.