The NFL has finally announced what penalties it will assess against the New Orleans Saints and individual coaches for the bounty scheme the team ran (individual penalties against players who took part have not yet been disclosed):
- Saints’ head coach Sean Payton is suspended without pay from NFL activities for one year.
- Former Saints’ defensive coordinator Gregg Williams is suspended without pay indefinitely. The NFL will review his case after the 2012 season. This will also hurt the St. Louis Rams who hired Williams this season.
- General manager Mickey Loomis is suspended without pay for eight games.
- Assistant head coach Joe Vitt is suspended without pay for six games.
- Loss of the Saints’ second-round draft pick in both 2012 and 2013.
- A $500,000 fine on the club.
The penalties for the 22 or more individual players are apparently being held until the NFL Players Association can complete its own investigation into the scheme.
Earlier posts on this issue here and here.
Update: As several people have pointed out, this has a commonality with a lot of political scandals, in that the original sin is compounded by the cover-up attempts. It’s pretty much a certainty that this wasn’t the only bounty program in the league, and the penalty would likely have been much less if the Saints hadn’t worked so hard — as an organization — to cover it up after the initial accusation was made.
