BY: CHAD SMITH
Roger Goodell drops the sledge hammer… again.
The NFL was at it again today handing out devastating
punishments. Earlier this month it started with the stripping of $46 million in
cap space combined between the Cowboys and Redskins. This time it was the
saints turn for bountygate. The punishment for the Saints was stiff and no
player punishments have been handed out yet. I have mixed emotions about this,
but before I get in to my thoughts I’ll highlight the punishment:
- Saints forfeiture of 2nd round pick
in 2012 and 2nd round pick in 2013 drafts
- $500,000 fine to the Saint organization.
Starting April 1st Sean Payton cannot be around
the Saints organization. This means he cannot be in on free agent signings, in
the war room for the draft, and more importantly to evaluate talent during
training camp. I’m sure he will still be hands on in these areas from an
offsite location, however watching hours of film is different than watching it
live. This is going to be difficult for the Saints to overcome as Sean Peyton
is one of the best coaches in the NFL right now.
General Manager Mickey Loomis will be gone for half season.
I’m not sure how big of a deal this actually is. During the season G.M.’s would
presumably do less then this time of year and through training camp when a lot
of team building and talent evaluation take place. During the season if a
player is hurt or a trade needs to be made Loomis will be missed. Where he will
still be around for the draft and training camp is punishment isn’t as bad as
the one Payton received.
Joe Vitt is a big loss for the saints as he was presumed to
be the one to step into Sean Payton place as interim head coach if Payton was
to receive a punishment including suspension. While he will miss the first six
games this will force the Saints do replace Peyton with either Steve Spagnuolo
or Pete Carmichael to act as interim head coach. Spagnuolo did not fair to well
in his first experience as a head coach with the Rams and just recently stepped
into his new role with the Saints as a Defensive Coordinator, so I would be
surprised if it was him. I would look for the Offensive Coordinator Pete
Carmichael to get the nod as last year when Payton was injuried Carmichael
stepped in and proved to be a suitable replacement.
Greg Williams suspension from the league is to put the rest
of the league on notice that this type of behavior will not be tolerated. By
the league saying he will be reviewed at the end of next season does not give
Williams a chance to appeal like Peyton, Loomis, and Vitt will most likely
attempt to do. Williams will certainly be out of professional football for this
season and possibly beyond.
The Saints being stripped of two second round draft picks is
not heavy enough. While the punishment as a whole was dropped with an iron fist
I think the league went light here. The NFL set precedence in 2007 with the
punishment of the Patriots in Spygate by stripping the organization of a first
round draft pick. The Saint first round this pick this year belongs to the
ironically belongs to the Patriots, so it was impossible for the NFL to take
that pick so they took two seconds instead. I think the league should have
taken the Saints first round picks in the 2013 and 2014 drafts because you get
on average much more from a first round pick then two seconds. The $500,000 I
find to be irrelevant because $500,000 to an NFL franchise worth over a billion
dollars means nothing.
I the end I think all people involved expect for Greg
Williams will appeal the NFL rulings and eventually have their sentences cut in
half or have some kind of revisions to the sentence put in place. I think the
NFL has crushed future talk of any bounty programs with this punishment. I’m sure any teams that may currently have a
program that may be seen as a bounty program will be ending it in the near
future. Overall I think the league did what they needed to do to show that
player safety is of the upmost importance to the league. The interesting part
is the punishment for this debacle isn’t over yet… Players you’re up next.
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