I'm not quite sure whether I am in favour of it yet, but I think the idea is worth exploring and I don't quite accept that this is bad for OUFC specifically yet either.
The truth is that we are miles away from being able to compete with most clubs in the Championship on a financial basis anyway. The current system stacks rewards in gaining promotion to the Premier League and that encourages clubs to spend money they might not have in an effort to earn a much greater reward. I've seen posts elsewhere on here about the amounts clubs in the Champ spend and they are eye opening. I'm not sure that it isn't already a PL2, as is often threatened when the salary cap suggestion is discussed.
A lot of clubs are run in a way that makes me nervous. Even at Oxford, we seem to rely on money from the owner and on being able to sell players for tidy profits, using that money to cover running expenses (plus the recruitment of new players to sell on at a profit later). What happens to Oxford if we make three or four bad signings in a row and don't have anyone to sell? Or if the Championship clubs stop paying the fees that we've come to expect for our players? Or if the owners decide they aren't going to put any more money in?
Bigger clubs can still do things to make themselves more attractive. They can offer players the chance to play in better stadiums in front of bigger crowds. They can offer bigger incentives in the way of wage rises if/when promoted to the Championship. They can also invest the leftover money in their academies, a source of competitive advantage and something that benefits English football as a whole.
There would certainly be things to iron out before it could be considered. Whether there should be a cap in the Championship, for instance (albeit much higher). What happens to relegated clubs is a key matter. Being relegated with a lot of players on big contracts didn't seem to help clubs like Sunderland, but moving on players with big wages after a bad year is difficult to do so I imagine that there would have to be some sort of allowance - maybe with a limit on what can be spent on new players. It doesn't seem totally unreasonable that players take a share of the risk with relegation clauses in their contracts.
It's a blunt tool, but I'm not sure that automatically makes it worse than the alternatives. Do nothing, and see clubs spend money they don't have and risk bankruptcy or points deductions whilst L1 and L2 fall further behind the Championship? Keep trying to police FFP, a much more complex set of rules with apparent potential for loopholes and disputes?
A cap has worked in other sports. I'd like to see it discussed seriously, at the least.