From Peter King's MMQB
 

I think the more the Saints lose, the worse it's going to be for Roger Goodell in Super Bowl week. I mean, the man will not be able to leave his hotel.

Read more: Bill Belichick's contact with ref caps another weekend of replacement controversies - Peter King - SI.com

Re: From Peter King's MMQB
 

He'll announce that we get our 2nd round draft pick back a week or two before the Superbowl.

Re: From Peter King's MMQB
 

I worked as a chauffeur for the SB here in Dallas and thinking about seeing if I can get an extra gig during the SB in N.O.

Does Der Komisar need a driver? I'll make sure he winds up where he needs to be.

Wouldn't surprise me.
It was said when the punishment was handed down that the second rounder could be changed if we had a terrible season.Im expecting it to become a 3/4th rounder instead.

Re: From Peter King's MMQB
 

I honestly think he would give us ALL the draft picks back RIGHT NOW, TODAY, before lunchtime, if Benson fired Payton and Loomis like Goodell wanted him to. The whole punishment was designed to get those two fired -- I honestly am convinced of that. Which is why he keeps changing Payton's punishment around, and why he comes out dangling the picks over our heads every time that Payton acts up or gets too high profile in the media. Goodell wanted the Bounty story to go BOOM and make Benson get mad at Payton, then Payton, Loomis and Vitt all lose their jobs, players get cut, Goodell wins, he rids himself of the problem of Payton, Loomis, Gregg Williams, and a bunch of the players he has a beef against. But it didn't work out that way. That's been my take on it for a while now. Dangling Gregg Williams' reinstatement over his head like a bunch of grapes, to get him to do Goodell's bidding and say the right things -- same tactic.

I thought u were a lawyer after reading your insightful post on the thread aboit Vilma's lawsuit.
And yes, I think you should be Goodell's driver. "Leave the body and take the cannoli's". Lol

Re: From Peter King's MMQB
 

No lawyer more of a professional student, but I did pass the Louisiana Bar exam before they changed some of the requirements (when I took it you were not required to have graduated from Law School - they changed it 2 years later).

I only took it because I could, never even thought about practicing law - have 3 Bachelor degrees, 2 masters, and supposed to finish my PhD in December.

Re: From Peter King's MMQB
 

Isn't Peter King also included in this discussion of not being welcome in New Orleans?

Re: From Peter King's MMQB
 

I disagree. First of all, when has he changed Payton's punishment around? And when had he dangled picks in front of us (besides saying that was subject to re-evaluation at the very beginning)? Also, when has Payton "acted up""? Plus, I think if he wanted Payton and Loomis out, he would have done the exact same thing as he did w/ Williams, suspend indefinitely.

I respect your opinion, and perhaps you are right, but I think this is a bit far-fetched...

Re: From Peter King's MMQB
 

I'd like to see that happen.

Re: From Peter King's MMQB
 

73Saint -- It's a lot to explain... I apologize for the tl;dr here folks but I have been following the bounty thing since day one, so bear with me:

1 - at first Payton's suspension was originally until the "day after the Super Bowl." THEN Goodell changed it to "after the season, Payton can apply to be reinstated." That's a different thing entirely than what it was at first. (And the change in wording came after one of the incidents in #3 below.)

2 - Goodell has said that we might possibly get the picks back if he is satisfied that the team has changed its ways, rehabilitated blah blah blah. I don't have the link handy but you'll have to just trust me, he DID say it again a second time, much later after the original sentence came down. And it was in an interview with Goodell AFTER one of the following events (can't remember exactly which one).

3 - Payton "acted up" by riding around in a golf cart with Bill Freaking Parcells, grabbing headlines during the NFL owners' meeting in Florida. It drew attention away from the owner's agenda, caused a circus in the sports media, and then people started freaking out about the Rooney rule, "oh no, if the Saints hire Parcells they could violate the Rooney Rule," and basically Payton upstaged the NFL in the headlines surrounding their annual owner's meeting, blew away the 18-game season discussion that Goodell wanted, with the whole crazy Parcells rumor thing.

4 - then after his appeal died, Payton demanded "clarification" from the league on what he could and couldn't do during his suspension, in writing. He basically made them do a bunch of legal busy work, a memo, laying it all out in a document for him. Do I have to report it if I see Jimmy Graham in another line at the grocery store? Can I do college scouting on my own, can I coach college? What if it's an EX Saints player I see on the street? Does this include contact with cheerleaders? What about the kid who carries the tee -- what if I accidentally run into him? Can Benson rent an office to Payton in Benson Tower, if it's not the Saints name on the lease? That kind of thing. Just to make them do the busy work and jump through hoops. Probably 30% real clarification, 70% just yanking their chain.

5 - Payton played bongos with Jimmy Buffett, and then pictures showed up on the internet of Payton drinking alone in a bar (Lucy's) -- I don't think that was a total accident. I mean it's freaking Lucy's -- Payton knows Saints fans are gonna be there and take his picture and Tweet about it. TMZ type stuff. And people see drunk Payton cutting up at Lucy's and they kinda laugh at it, and sorta feel sorry for him too. Like he got a raw deal.

6 - Payton again "acted up" by going to a charity golf event thing in the summer, that Mark Ingram was at -- both were committed to it before Bountygate happened. And both he and Ingram made funny comments to reporters there, about how they had to arrive and leave through different doors, they couldn't be in the same room, Ingram said it was like avoiding an ex girlfriend, I had to leave sneaking through the kitchen, funny stuff like that. They were showing how silly the punishment was, that Goodell was making them do this even though they were at a CHARITY event.

But yeah, I'm interpreting it, but I kinda think Goodell really wanted (or would have been extremely happy with) all 3-4 of them including Williams getting fired from their jobs. The team "rehabilitating" or "changing their ways" really sounds like code "between the lines" for firing Payton and Loomis, to me. Because in Goodell's eyes THEY were the problem. And Goodell has had run-ins with Payton before, many times. Just my take on it.

Re: From Peter King's MMQB
 

Well, it certainly wouldn't surprise me if Goodell had it out for Payton, and I could see Payton's arrogance rubbing Rodge the wrong way. So, who knows.

I just think that it has to be common knowledge that Payton and Loomis are gods in NOLA, and Benson firing them over this would set the franchise back even further than his punishment already has. So, under that theory, hard to imagine Benson doing so.

But, what do I know? lol.