Thoughts on the Saints Situation

[Guest Irv]

I can finally go to sleep now that Mr. Scot has shared his thoughts with the rest of us.

[Mr. Scot]

Saints fan quoted a CBS Sports source as saying that Benson is completely behind both Coach Sean Payton and GM Mickey Loomis ("1000 percent" they said).

Kinda hard to buy if it's true that Loomis lied to Benson about stopping the practice.

If this is the case though, it could mean the league really throws the book at the Saints since nearlly everyone (save Gregg Williams and possibly Jonathan Vilma) in the team's power structure who knew about it would still be in place.

Goodell has already used the "conduct detrimental" phrase in regard to Loomis and Payton's actions.

[JawnyBlaze]

I think it could go beyond the penalties listed above and hit the franchise about as hard as possible. Take away the '09 Lombardi. If they're not cheapshotting Favre, I don't think they beat the Vikings anyway (not to mention wins earlier in the season and playoffs they might not have won without this conduct going on).

[Riverboat Ron]

This is one of those situations where I had a strange feeling something was up. I remember watching the 09 Championship game vs. the Vikings and I was amazed that the refs were letting some very late hits go. Considering I love good defense beating offense, it says a lot that I thought they played considerably more like a band of hit men than a team. Such a shame.

[Catalyst]

They'll get fined heavily and lose a 1st round pick or two. Maybe lose their franchise tag. Worst case scenario for them, IMO, is Payton being suspended for a year.

They won't clean house, that's just stupid.

[Anybodyhome]

One huge factor that has not been considered nor has it even been mentioned.

The New Orleans Saints are the league's poster children aside from the Patriots. The whole Katrina sympathy angle is still played on a weekly basis during every TV broadcast, Drew Brees gets trotted out like he's a true Saint with the NFL filming entire commercials just about him and the city of New Orleans.

The league kicked a lot of money into the "Let's rebuild possibly one of the worst stadiums in the country" Superdome fund while owner Tom Benson continues to hold the state of Louisiana hostage keeping the team in New Orleans. Not to mention the fact he is literally the landlord for the state government offices.

http://www.bestofneworleans.com/blogofneworleans/archives/2011/10/05/what-the-mercedes-benz-superdome-deal-really-means-for-louisiana

http://www.nola.com/business/index.ssf/2011/06/states_deal_for_benson_office.html

Perhaps this story will change the opinions of some NFL fans and perhaps this, coinciding with the Drew Brees "Now I can show everyone who the real Drew Brees is" contract situation, may also change some minds.

But don't be fooled for a minute- the favorite son Patriots were basically told to sit in the corner for 10 minutes after getting caught cheating. Next favorite in line are the Saints, and I'm not going to be surprised if they basically have to do without TV for a week.

[brainless wuss]

I'm a little puzzled how the investigation started in 2010 and then was closed when the witness recanted and Loomis denied the practice, only to develop 50,000 pages/18,000 documents 1-2 years later. Sounds like "poster child syndrome" to me.

I'd be interested in knowing how the new credible information reopening the investigation developed--like a former Saint player on another team said something?

[Fiz]

How how how how can you constantly write so much and say so little.

[panthers55]

Who knows what ultimately happens but I think it is safe to bet they won't clean house to avoid Goodell's wrath. First of all Benson can stand behind the fact he told Loomis to stop it as soon as the league made him aware of it. He has cooperated with the investigation and done most of what an owner can be expected to do who might be a hands off guy.

I think it is likely that Loomis is either gone or severely penalized. besides Williams, he has the most to lose here given he directly was told to stop it and he did nothing. If nothing else Benson will use him as a fall guy for all this to demonstrate he is taking it seriously.

Peyton will get fined because he ignored it and could be suspended. One factor in all this will be if he was in on the meeting when Benson told Loomis to stop the practice and did nothing as well. He could always take the position he was just following his bosses lead and doing what he was told. Given his offensive prowess, I think he is considered very valuable to the franchise and will remain. Goodell is also in the positiion of wanting to punish New Orleans to show he is serious about safety but needs to temper his response so as to not kill the New Orleans franchise. It does the league no good to be so harsh that it kills the franchise and keeps it from being viable after spending so much time and money to prop it up in the first place.

Williams should be suspended for a year without pay and fined $250,000. He has done this multiple places and times, he has not learnd any lesson.

As for sanctions regarding drafft picks etc, yeah, it should be severe enough to prevent further incidences down the road. Two firsts sounds about right.

As for other issues, I think Brees signs a long term contract this weekend as Benson has to win back fans support. He will come in and tell Loomis what to do and take over things to show he is firmly in control. Even if Brees is tagged, he will be in New Orleans unless he is willing to sit out for a year. I really doubt he does that.

[OneBadassCat]

What exactly did Shockey have to say on the Saints bounty program?

[TheKornKobbKiller]

I don't have a problem at all with what the Saints did. But of course i'm an old school football fan who is/was accustomed to hard hitting football and defenses that made it a point to "knock out the quarterback."

I really don't care too much for todays flag football.

[BigCat#1]

sean payton's broken leg last year was karma

[raleigh-panther]

At the end of the day, the NFL is about money and image.

The Saints franchise makes money and it will be punished for oh, a few draft picks, a few suspensions, and the world will continue as the money needs to continue.

The players union needs to be heavily involved in this moreso than even the Commissioner as they need to start policing their own. It's player against player encouraged violence and the violence of the game itself is enough. No extra is needed.

Try and enlighten those players that they are hurting and maiming their own and if it continues, the Players Union will ban those who participate in these acts and that will stop this.

I don't need to see players being maimed. I need to see players cleanly tackled within the rules with no extra curricular.

That crap that went on with Steve Smith in the endzone is exhibit A. The Players Union should have stepped up and said, 'play is over and you acted like a thug, that's 4 game checks Roman Harper' and this would stop.

Instead, the Players Union said nothing. To me, they are just as culpeable as the Saints players and management.

[CatMan72]

You know Goodell has something nasty in mind when he wants to run it by the NFLPA and the rest of the owners first...