WhoDat!656

NFL commissioner Roger Goodell says his office has communicated with suspended New Orleans Saints head coach Sean Payton about his eventual reinstatement, and Goodell did not eliminate the possibility of Payton rejoining the franchise before the Super Bowl.


Payton would like an adjustment on the suspension so it would end at the conclusion of the regular season as opposed to after the Super Bowl, a source close to the coach suggests.

Goodell said Wednesday that he and Payton briefly have discussed the reinstatement process they will follow and that more focused conversations are planned after the upcoming holidays.


With former NFL commissioner Paul Tagliabue issuing final determinations on the Saints' bounty scandal Tuesday, Goodell was asked whether he might permit Payton to return to the NFL from his historic season-long suspension before he is eligible for consideration, which is immediately after the Feb. 3 Super Bowl in New Orleans.


"I don't want to say he could be because, again, we are in the early stages," Goodell said as he left for the airport after the NFL owners meetings in Irving, Texas. "We are starting to talk about it."


The NFL has reason to be concerned with how Goodell will be received in New Orleans during the Super Bowl and whether the week there becomes a protest of the sanctions imposed on the Saints' franchise, coaching staff and players for the bounty program. Tagliabue confirmed Goodell's findings in the bounty case but determined he punished too harshly. He then vacated the suspensions of four current or former Saints players.


There is also the possibility that Payton might not be committed to coaching the Saints and could be pursued by a team such as the Dallas Cowboys if owner and general manager Jerry Jones fires coach Jason Garrett.


Goodell recently provided Payton and the Saints permission to attempt to resolve the contractual issues that prevented the league office from approving the multiyear extension the parties agreed to in 2011. Goodell rejected it because of a clause that would have voided the agreement and permitted Payton to leave the franchise if generall manager Mickey Loomis was suspended, fired or otherwise left the front office.


Goodell said he was uncomfortable with the precedent that would have created for NFL head coaches and the instability that might have resulted. The league allowed Bill Parcells to have a similar agreement with the Miami Dolphins, but he was an executive in charge of football operations and not the head coach.


When asked whether he would consider Payton a coaching free agent if he fails to sign a new agreement with the Saints, Goodell said that was an issue for the team and Payton, not the league office

Roger Goodell begins reinstatement talks with New Orleans Saints coach Sean Payton - ESPN

"A Veteran is someone who, at one point in his life, wrote a blank check made payable to "The United States of America" for an amount of "up to and including my life."

SaintsBro

Completely hypocritical. Goodell obviously has a bias against Payton, stemming from issues besides this contract, personal issues with Payton even outside of Bountygate. The NFL is a joke, with this commissioner, a freaking joke.

neugey

Oh Roger, you're such a tease

RaginCajun83

Yuck Fou Goodell, only after the season is over do you start talking to Payton

FinSaint

Well, reinstating him before the season is over would probably go a long way towards the Saints getting back the 2nd round draft pick in the coming draft.

RaginCajun83

Reinstating him now would only allow Goodell to leave New Orleans alive after Superbowl week, IMO I don't see this jackhole giving the Saints their 2nd rounder back

TheOak

Explain the correlation please?

SmashMouth

If they reinstate him prior to season's end, it'll be due to the concern of demonstrations during the SB. Perhaps RG may think it would make a difference during his stay in New Orleans.

NuNu318

It won't have anything to do with the pick. But it will help speed up getting the extension done because he can actually be in on the talks instead of just his agent. It also gives him enough time to prepare for the draft as well. And gives him and Loomis a head start on making decisions on which players stay and go, and which players to target in FA.

NuNu318

But it won't. Just cuz he reinstates him before he comes to NOLA for the SB is not gonna change the feelings of the fans. If he wanted to save face with the fans he would have reinstated him after he served 6-8 games. Him letting Payton come back now that our season is has been officially destroyed is nothing but another slap in the face IMO. F*** Goodell!!