Penalties against Saints' stands...

Goodell upholds Saints' penalties


April 10, 2012 12:01 am

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By Judy Battista / The New York Times


The NFL upheld the season-long suspension of New Orleans Saints coach Sean Payton on Monday, and the shorter suspensions of two other team executives, as the league continued to grapple with the bounty scandal that has overshadowed much of the offseason.

By keeping in place the original suspensions he handed down nearly three weeks ago, commissioner Roger Goodell rejected a defense that Gregg Williams, the former defensive coordinator who oversaw the bounty system, was a rogue coach, as the lawyer for one Saints officials called him.

Payton's suspension without pay, originally scheduled to begin April 1, will now start April 16, meaning the appeal gave him two extra weeks to prepare the Saints for the draft and beyond. He will not be allowed football-related contact with players or team officials during his suspension. The eight-game suspension of Mickey Loomis, the general manager, and the six-game suspension of the assistant head coach, Joe Vitt, will begin at the end of the preseason.

The NFL said in a statement that if everyone cooperated from this point, Goodell would consider reducing the financial penalties on Payton, Loomis and Vitt and altering the forfeiture of a second-round draft choice in 2013 to a pick in a lower round. If the team has a bad season in '12 and the '13 draft pick is high in the second round, the league will consider changing the punishment to several lower-round picks instead.

The team has also been fined $500,000 and will lose a second-round pick in '12. Goodell will consider reinstating Payton after the Super Bowl in February. Loomis and Vitt will serve their suspensions and then be considered for reinstatement. Williams, now the defensive coordinator for the St. Louis Rams, did not appeal his indefinite suspension.

The Saints declined to comment on Goodell's decision.

"The club and the individuals will be expected to cooperate in any further proceedings and to assist in the development and implementation of programs to instruct players and coaches at all levels on principles of player safety, fair play, and sportsmanship," the NFL said in its statement.

The conclusion of the discipline process means the team will shortly have to decide on who will be Payton's interim replacement. While the Saints have considered elevating several internal candidates -- including offensive coordinator Pete Carmichael Jr. and defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo -- Payton has also discussed the job with his mentor, Bill Parcells.

Parcells, the former coach of the New York Giants, New England Patriots, New York Jets and Dallas Cowboys, has not coached since 2006, but he has made clear over the past few weeks that he was giving serious consideration to taking over the Saints, in large part because of his relationship with Payton.

Parcells played golf with Payton and Loomis two weeks ago but said at the time that there were still issues to be resolved and that he was still not sure he would take the job. The Saints would have to interview at least one minority candidate to be in compliance with the Rooney Rule. As of late last week, the team had not done so while awaiting the outcome of the appeals.

When asked Monday afternoon if he had had any further talks with the Saints about the job, Parcells replied in a text message, "Absolutely none."

The Saints still are waiting to hear how some players who the NFL said were involved in the bounties will be disciplined. While the investigation said 22 to 27 players were involved, the league is expected to discipline only a few of the defensive leaders, among them linebacker Jonathan Vilma, who, according to the league's investigation, offered $10,000 of his own money if a teammate knocked then-Minnesota Vikings quarterback Brett Favre out of the NFC championship game.

The players union has hired outside counsel, Richard Smith of Fulbright & Jaworski, to advise it on the bounty case and to provide representation if criminal charges are brought, although that is extremely unlikely.

Representatives of the union and the league met last week to review the NFL's investigation. In the meeting, the league showed the union representatives some of the evidence it gathered, but according to a person briefed on the meeting, the union also was told about other pieces of evidence but were not shown anything or given copies of possible additional evidence.