Saints in BIG trouble...

[boney]

I don't think you will get cap relief for suspended players....they would count against your cap if they are on your roster.

Yeah, I worded that weird. I was (trying) to make a point about how they are going to have zero cap space left for anything other than replacing suspended players and their draft picks.

[MadHatter]

Yeah, I worded that weird. I was (trying) to make a point about how they are going to have zero cap space left for anything other than replacing suspended players and their draft picks.

Got it...

Not sure how that would play out...we are in unchartered waters here.

[CatMan72]

Another quote:

King thinks the punishment issued to the Saints and various individuals will “likely dwarf” the penalties meted out for Spygate.

:party:

[R0CKnR0LLA]

UFL Saints? or maybe the arena league is better suited for those pussy ass dome bitches

:lol:

[KBRed]

[nickzz]

love how their owner essentially confessed that he's willing to completely sell out for a superbowl.

i would have no problems throwing anyone who is a part of the saints org. on the ground and taking a big steamy poo on their face.

[CatMan72]

love how their owner essentially confessed that he's willing to completely sell out for a superbowl.

i would have no problems throwing anyone who is a part of the saints org. on the ground and taking a big steamy poo on their face.

He was willing to completely sell out New Orleans before Katrina hit... I bet he was pissed when he realized the Saints were trapped there for the foreseeable future, simply for PR reasons.

[Jangler]

I was curious how that would go over with Saints FO.. Williams is going to try to survive and keep a job.

trying to look clean?

[CatMan72]

Payton and Loomis just issued the following joint statement:

We acknowledge that the violations disclosed by the NFL during their investigation of our club happened under our watch. We take full responsibility.

This has brought undue hardship on Mr. Benson, who had nothing to do with this activity. He has been nothing but supportive and for that we both apologize to him.

These are serious violations and we understand the negative impact it has had on our game. Both of us have made it clear within our organization that this will never happen again, and make that same promise to the NFL and most importantly to all of our fans.

Mickey Loomis & Sean Payton

So they confirm the results of the NFL's investigation and don't deny their own involvement in it... this is what it sounds like when you get caught red-handed.

These guys are praying for mercy, because they know what's coming.

[Spaceballs83]

Of course you are going to say it will never happen again once you get caught!!

:biggrin5:

[Razeyfingers]

I still remember the game when Williams crotch chopped at our team after someone got taken out. The camera caught like a third of a second of it before it switched to something else.

: point: :laugh:

[Jangler]

[Mr. Scot]

I think Williams has been told in no uncertain terms, that if he ever wants to coach in the NFL again, he needs to come clean.

In the meantime, via Peter King's twitter:

Still don't think the Saints are screwed?

Saints are about to be on the wrong end of the biggest sanctions in the history of the NFL. I think we all may be underestimating the punishment that's coming...

I think the "steam coming out of his ears" comment pretty much tells me they might need to brace themselves for some big penalties.

You'll note that Payton and Loomis are greatly emphasizing the whole "Tom Benson didn't know" line.

Suuuuuuure he didn't :sosp:

I'm really starting to believe he did.

[Darknight]

Wow...it keeps getting better and better

In a must-read account of the Saints’ three-season bounty system, Peter King of Sports Illustrated shares plenty of intriguing and compelling details. MDS already has highlighted portions of the article relating to Roger Goodell’s reaction to the situation and linebacker Scott Fujita’s position on the subject. But there’s even more good stuff.

During the 2009 NFC title game, which both sparked the league’s investigation and served as the most obvious example of assault and battery of an opposing quarterback, King writes that, after an unflagged high-low hit on Brett Favre resulted in a sprained ankle, an unnamed Saints defender was heard saying on an on-field microphone, “Pay me my money!”

(We know what you’re thinking: The league killed Monday’s re-air of the game on NFL Network because the comment could be heard during the broadcast. Apparently, however, it was a different microphone.)

King also explains that defensive end Anthony Hargrove can be heard saying, “Favre is out of the game! Favre is done! Favre is done!”

Both statements would be strong circumstantial proof of the existence of a bounty program, if the NFL hadn’t already found that the bounty program existed. And King spells out the weekly routine that unfolded during the 2009 season, defensive coordinator Gregg Williams’ first in New Orleans.

On Saturday night, Williams handed out in a defensive meeting envelopes containing payments for big plays and inflicted injuries from the prior Sunday. And the defenders would then chant, “Give it back! Give it back! Give it back!” Many did, which caused the pile of available cash to keep growing.

The bounty system continued even after, as King explains in the Tuesday edition of his MMQB column, former Vikings coach Brad Childress sent to the league video of eight different hits on Favre from that game, the Vikings officially alleged that the Saints had put a bounty on Favre, and Williams, linebackers coach Joe Vitt, and Hargrove denied (i.e., lied about) its existence to investigators. For Williams, the denials (i.e., lies) continued through the middle of February 2012, when Williams was confronted with evidence implicating him as the “ringleader.” Williams, per King, once again tried to deny it, but Williams then met with Goodell to confess.

Williams was back in New York on Monday, possibly to confess yet again (after possibly denying/lying yet again) his involvement in bounty systems in other cities.

King thinks the punishment issued to the Saints and various individuals will “likely dwarf” the penalties meted out for Spygate. The more we learn about the situation, the less surprising that will be.

http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2012/03/06/saints-defender-after-favre-injury-pay-me-my-money/