On the day the Jacksonville Jaguars were granted the NFL equivalent of a presidential pardon for past salary-cap excesses one could excuse Tom Coughlin, the only head coach this team has ever employed, for experiencing a severe bout of polarized emotions.

Given the events of the Monday expansion lottery, Coughlin was left with voids in his offensive and defensive lines, not to mention a yawning hole in his heart, at having to sacrifice key veterans Tony Boselli, Gary Walker and Seth Payne. On the flip side, by playing footsies with the Texans and allowing Houston general manager Charley Casserly to plunder the Jacksonville unprotected list, the Jags earned a "Get Out of Cap Jail Free" card.

A league-high $27.7 million beyond the 2002 projected spending limit of $71.101 million at the start of the expansion draft, the Jaguars pared nearly $15 million from that overage in two hours, reducing their annual salary-cap headache by more than half in even less time than it would have taken an Excedrin to kick into action. And, presto, when the deals of weakside linebacker Kevin Hardy and defensive end Renaldo Wynn are officially voided, which the Jags are contractually obligated to do, Jacksonville will expunge another $15.8 million in cap charges.

For the first time in years, the Jaguars will go into the spring with cap wiggle room. Not too much room, of course, but a little. And it is primarily attributable to Monday's expansion draft.

It was like walking into a salary cap confessional, acknowledging every fiscal transgression made in the last several years, and then receiving absolution without having to perform any penance.

Well, then again, almost.

There is retribution, of a sort, to be anted up by the Jaguars, and the New York Jets and Baltimore Ravens as well, two other franchises that used the expansion draft to move toward fiscal health. By waving the magic expansion wand, those teams were able to make most of their longstanding cap woes disappear. The trade-off is that all three teams lost valuable veterans and now face the specter of trying to fill the vacancies created by their departures.

Coughlin called the expansion draft a "giant step" toward alleviating cap problems. But it also represented a step backwards in the on-field product. Jets general manager Terry Bradway said the cap fix was a "unique opportunity" to help re-make the team. He and coach Herm Edwards will have to start the refurbishing by locating a couple starting cornerbacks and a right tackle.

Indeed the biggest winners in the expansion draft were also the biggest losers.

That was as predictable as the choreographed manner in which the Texans selected the veterans, right down to the order in which they went off the board and were called to the podium, down to the fact their were game jerseys already printed up for them. But now in the aftermath of the draft the giddiness of killing off the salary cap albatross is replaced by some teams with the reality that fiscal health doesn't necessarily mean football wealth.

Baltimore and New York were both playoff entries in 2001 and now their rosters have undergone a dramatic upheaval. For those teams to approximate the 20 combined victories they had in 2001 they must find a way to finish off the addition-by-subtraction paradigm begun Monday afternoon.

As noted by ESPN.com in the days preceding the expansion draft, Jets officials feel that second-year veteran Kareem McKenzie, a third-round draft choice in '01, can move into Ryan Young's spot at right tackle. Another second-year pro, cornerback Jamie Henderson, will be elevated to starter's status. The Jets will hope that Tampa Bay releases corner Donnie Abraham, a favorite of Edwards, and that they can sign him as a free agent.

But all those things have to fall into place, and even more puzzle pieces must fit for Coughlin and the Jaguars, for the two teams to come out of the expansion draft with a wash. The Ravens must do far better offensively, and certainly the return to health of tailback Jamal Lewis would help, to compensate for the departure of return specialist Jermaine Lewis, a man whose runbacks afforded the team advantageous field position.

If the events of Monday proved anything, it is that the league is forever tied to the cap, and that all moves inexorably end up having financial consequences and ramifications.

Which helps explain why Tom Coughlin and others couldn't fully enjoy a newfound cap freedom afforded them by the Houston Texans.

Len Pasquarelli is a senior writer for ESPN.com.