NFL News & Rumors Digest

All parties who appealed their punishments in the New Orleans Saints’ “bounty” scandal will have their instances heard Thursday at NFL headquarters in New York, multiple sources said and the league later confirmed.

NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell will listen to appeals from the Saints ($ 500,000 fine, two lost draft picks), coach Sean Payton (suspension for the 2012 season), general manager Mickey Loomis (eight-game suspension) and assistant head coach Joe Vitt (six-game suspension), according to league spokesman Greg Aiello. Former Saints defensive coordinator Gregg Williams, now with the St. Louis Rams, didn’t appeal his indefinite suspension.

Goodell, who will hear and rule on the appeals, has said he hopes to expedite the approach. There is little believed any discipline would be reduced, but the appeals approach could buy all parties far more time to chart their futures even though punishment is becoming administered.

Payton has spoken to his old boss, former Super Bowl-winning coach Bill Parcells, about possibly taking more than the Saints even though he is suspended.

The NFL has however to rule on the 22 to 27 players cited in the bounty scandal, but discipline could be meted out in the near future. NFL security and league officials met with representatives from the NFL Players Association on Monday to go more than evidence.

Goodell stated he hopes to receive a recommendation from NFLPA executive director DeMaurice Smith concerning player discipline prior to ruling. However, NFLPA sources stated Smith could not offer you counsel on punishment.

Goodell has sole authority to punish players.

According to the league, Saints linebacker Jonathan Vilma provided $ ten,000 to any New Orleans player who sidelined Minnesota Vikings quarterback Brett Favre during the NFC Championship Game in the 2009 season. No other players involved have been publicly identified by the NFL.

(About:) This article was distributed by Syndicated Sports news wire and aggregation service, For more NFL news see: Appeals in Saints ‘bounty’ case to be heard Thursday by Goodell.

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The players cited by the NFL in the New Orleans Saints bounty scandal are expected to face discipline, but the announcement of their punishment could come following the league sanctions executives, coaches and the Saints organization, a source with knowledge of the scenario said Saturday.

NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell could rule as soon as Monday against Saints common manager Mickey Loomis, head coach Sean Payton and former defensive coordinator Gregg Williams — now the Rams defensive coordinator. All have acknowledged the pay-for-overall performance “bounty” program in statements immediately after the league announced the scathing findings of its months-long investigation on March two.

Suspensions, fines and the loss of draft picks are all possibilities — if not probabilities.

The league could hold off on announcing punishment for the 22-27 players, possibly due to the fact of the sheer volume of players involved. The NFLPA asked the NFL not to discipline players just before it conducted its personal investigation, but that request is not believed to aspect heavily into the attainable delay in the punishment toward players.

A league official said players will be held culpable considering that they primarily funded the bounty pool, which, according to the league investigation, rewarded players for big plays and injuring opponents.

Follow Steve Wyche on Twitter @wyche89.

(About:) This post was distributed by Syndicated Sports news wire and aggregation service, For much more NFL news see: Saints players cited in scandal could see delayed penalties.

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The NFL clubs have agreed to a new contract with Commissioner Roger Goodell that extends his term via the 2018 season, the league confirmed Wednesday.

The announcement was made by Atlanta Falcons Owner and Chairman Arthur M. Blank, who serves as chairman of the NFL Compensation Committee.

NFL clubs unanimously approved a resolution at a December 14 league meeting in Dallas that said, “The commissioner has performed his duties in an exemplary fashion because his election in 2006 and the membership has determined that the interests of the NFL would be best served by a continuation of the commissioner’s employment beyond the terms of his existing employment contract.”

The resolution authorized the Compensation Committee to complete negotiations on a new contract, the third of Goodell’s tenure as commissioner. His original 5-year contract was extended in 2009. The new contract continues until March 31, 2019.

Other members of the Compensation Committee are Tom Benson (New Orleans), Pat Bowlen (Denver), Robert Kraft (New England), Jerry Richardson (Carolina) and Stephen Ross (Miami).

“I speak on behalf of 32 NFL club owners in saying we are fortunate to have Roger Goodell as our commissioner,” Blank mentioned. “Since becoming commissioner in 2006, the NFL — already the leader in specialist sports — has gotten even stronger. As evidenced by this contract extension, we have wonderful confidence in Roger’s vision and leadership of the NFL. Our clubs, players and fans could not ask for a far better CEO.”

Goodell, 52, has focused his priorities on effectively increasing the NFL’s reputation and leadership role by strengthening the game and all 32 NFL franchises by way of innovation.

Fan interest in the NFL has soared below Goodell’s leadership, including the largest television audiences in league history, 23 of the 25 highest-rated programs of the current tv season, huge growth in on the web and social media engagement, and other measures of achievement and recognition.

“It is a privilege for me to serve the NFL,” Goodell said. “It is the only place I have ever wanted to work. I am grateful for the contributions and counsel of NFL owners in managing our league, the talented staff that supports us, and the players and coaches that execute their magic on the field. It is genuinely a team effort. I am eagerly searching ahead to the challenge of creating on our momentum and carrying out all we can to boost our game for the fans and every person that is element of our league.”

In his very first six seasons as commissioner, Goodell has addressed a wide range of issues to increase the NFL, including player health and safety the medical needs and pensions of retired players private conduct labor and income sharing stadium construction media innovation and international development.

His leadership helped secure a landmark ten-year collective bargaining agreement with the NFL Players Association in 2011, the longest in the history of skilled sports. That was followed by long-term extensions of the NFL’s tv contracts. The nine-year agreements with CBS, FOX , and NBC are the longest ever for NFL broadcast television contracts and continue the NFL’s tradition of becoming the only sports league that shows all of its typical-season and playoff games on totally free, over-the-air television.

Goodell has also helped generate new playing rules, policies and programs to make the game much better and safer. This includes $ 100 million committed to medical study throughout the 10-year term of the new CBA. Goodell’s leadership on health and safety has had a considerable positive impact on all levels of football and other sports.

In the course of his tenure, Commissioner Goodell also has strengthened the league’s anti-steroids policy, launched innovative media initiatives and a new series of international normal-season games, improved the NFL’s news media access policies to much better serve fan interest, and revamped and enhanced the league’s programs to help and help players and former players in their lives off the field.

(About:) This article was distributed by Syndicated Sports news wire and aggregation service, For more NFL news see: NFL teams extend Goodell’s contract via 2018 season.

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In maybe the clearest sign yet that the owners and players are extremely close to a deal, we have a report that the two sides don’t plan to meet face-to-face for negotiations once again.

Albert Breer of NFL.com reports that the the remaining details of the CBA are expected to be worked out via e-mail, phone, videoconference, Skype, Twitter, and Instant Message.   (Yes, we added the last three with no factual evidence.)

Casual Saturday is wrapping up, as the lawyers for each sides have left the building.  Communication could continue Sunday in between lawyers, but it won’t with face-to-face meetings.  DeMaurice Smith and Roger Goodell are also stated to be in communication.

The slowing pace of points is a sign that each sides are comfy with where items stand.  The two sides will meet with mediator Arthur Boylan Monday evening and Tuesday.   Breer reports those meetings could take location in New York, rather than Minneapolis.

At this point, it would be a surprise if an agreement isn’t reached early in the week.

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When league and NFLPA* sources aren’t saying that a labor deal is or isn’t close, they’re talking about the “hard work” that remains.

One such source played the “hard work” card tonight with ESPN’s Sal Paolantonio, saying that “there is a lot of hard work to be carried out.”

As to whether a deal will be presented to the owners for approval on July 21, the source mentioned, “I just don’t know.”

Either way, the parties have 200 million factors to make it happen.  As 1 owner told Paolantonio,”Everybody is trying to figure out how to open training camps inside the subsequent two weeks so we do not lose a week of preseason.  Nobody desires to lose $ 200 million.”

And therein lies the existing dilemma, in our assessment.  With each side assuming that the other side does not want to blow its cut of $ 200 million, every side is assuming that the other side will blink on the remaining issues.  It’s consequently now more crucial than ever that the respective leaders, Roger Goodell and DeMaurice Smith, present genuine leadership.

Everybody loses if a week of the preseason is lost at this point, neither side need to be trying to secure a win.

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Ideally, the NFL and the NFLPA* would have continued to bargain via Friday and into Saturday, Sunday, and Monday, if necessary.  By sticking with the process, the momentum that surely was established on Thursday night could have been not only maintained but also enhanced, possibly even pushing the parties toward a deal.

With the talks breaking until Tuesday, the challenge for both sides becomes discovering a way to pick up exactly where they left off, as quickly as doable, when the discussions resume.

It could be simpler stated than done, specially considering that the owners and key players reportedly won’t return until Thursday of next week.  That leaves Tuesday and Wednesday for recent progress potentially to be undone.  Not to mention Saturday, Sunday, and Monday for feet to get cold once more.

It is critical, then, for the men leading the charge for each and every side, Roger Goodell and DeMaurice Smith, to do everything they can to carry the vibe from Thursday into Tuesday.  They will need to support every other, and they need to make great decisions about how to manage the folks in their respective camps so that talks don’t go backward again when the talks resume.

It is also essential for the respective constituents to totally support Goodell and Smith to now do the jobs they were hired to do.  The owners, based on last week’s meeting in Chicago, appear to be behind Goodell.  The players, many of whom were clamoring for negotiations to resume in late May and who possibly have been silent given that then, would be wise to let their team representatives and Executive Committee members know over the weekend that they trust De Smith to do the very best deal in order to permit the full preseason to be salvaged.

Even though the players do not get game checks until September, the funds earned in the course of the preseason goes into the pot that determines the salary cap.  Therefore, if the preseason is lost, every person will lose their cut of $ 800 million, and that money is in no way coming back.

The money won’t be lost if a deal gets carried out in the next week.  We’re not going to make any predictions, but it seems like a actual possibility.  If whatever happened last night can survive into next week.

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ESPN’s Chris Mortensen has squeezed out a couple of tweets this morning regarding a portion of Roger Goodell’s PFT Live interview that was sufficiently compelling to make it onto the ESPN cablewaves on Wednesday.  For those of you who missed it, Goodell did not remove from the table the rumored option of shutting down all company operations in the event the lockout is lifted by the courts.

Mort reports that which Goodell didn’t say — a full shutdown won’t happen.

“As prominent NFL man says, please ignore idea being floated that NFL could shut down organization if lockout lifted,” Mortensen writes on Twitter.  “Not a chance, he says.”  Mortensen later dismissed Goodell’s failure to take the option off the table by saying without having elaboration, “I wouldn’t use it as a barometer of what’s real here.”

For clarity, we in no way stated the league had decided to shut down if forced to open the doors to players.  We reported that it was an choice becoming discussed.  And we stand by that, even if the alternative is becoming discussed solely as a way to vent the frustrations of billionaires who are accustomed to getting their way and who haven’t quite frequently in the past 62 days.  And we assumed (incorrectly, as usual) that Goodell would dismiss the possibility with the same clarity that he has dismissed the concept of replacement players.  When he didn’t, the story grew legs.

Because some in possession of cheeseheads made of tinfoil believe that the league planted the rumor with PFT so that we’d ask Goodell the question and that he’d then give an obtuse response aimed at scaring the players, here’s our take on what happened.  We feel Goodell opted in response to the question to resort to the league’s talking point when it comes to the post-lockout rules that would be imposed, and that he didn’t understand his failure to particularly say “there won’t be a complete shutdown” would be regarded as newsworthy.  He does a lot of extemporaneous speaking, he was shuttling between appointments on Wednesday, and he can’t be expected to be pitch perfect each and each time.

So we believe the league is now trying to control the situation by leaking that a total shutdown isn’t an choice.  It is a intelligent move, for a selection of reasons.  Apart from consistently growing fan anger and frustration, the NFL doesn’t need to have the three judges in St. Louis who’ll decide whether to problem an order that the players really should be permitted to return to work to believe that the league is devising methods for defying an order that the players ought to be permitted to return to function.  If that happens, the 3 judges in St. Louis could be far more inclined to order that the players ought to be permitted to return to work.

That’s ultimately why I thought Goodell would respond to the question by taking the shutdown option off the table, and that’s why I now think that the league has decided to leak the notion that it won’t happen to Mort.

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Reuters

Two weeks ago, we booked NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell for PFT Live on the initial day of the 2011 draft.  And then all hell broke loose, with the lockout being lifted and the league left scrambling to figure out the next steps.

As a result, Goodell had to postpone he’s appearance.  And we’ve finally rescheduled it.

He’ll appear Wednesday, in the second segment of the show.  We’ll wrap things up with a return check out from our good friend and NBC colleague Rodney Harrison.

Send along any questions you could have for either of our guests.  And be sure to tune in at 12:00 p.m. ET.

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