RockyMountainSaint

No bounty punishment, yet | ProFootballTalk

Two weeks ago, when the league dropped a bounty bomb late Friday afternoon, the release identified the crime without specifying the punishment.

Within a day, multiple reports indicated that discipline would come within one or two weeks. Last weekend, multiple reports indicated that the sanctions would be imposed by the end of this week.

It’s now the end of this week — the second week since the situation arose — and there has been nothing yet.

Don Banks of SI.com reports that the ruling is expected in the coming week. He’s probably right, because on March 25 owners will begin to gather in Palm Beach. All along, it has been treated as a given that the punishment would be announced before the NFL’s annual March get-together, given that the situation will be even more of a distraction if the decision is still pending.

But what would create the bigger distraction, the absence of a decision on punishment or an announcement of extensive and unprecedented penalties only a couple days before the meetings convene?

At this point, it may be better to let it ride.

Or maybe the best approach would be for Commissioner Roger Goodell to announce the discipline at a press conference to conclude the meetings? This approach would limit the media’s opportunity to formulate the most meaningful questions possible, and it wouldn’t put a dark cloud over the meetings because the meetings would be over.

Even if the Commissioner announces the penalties in this fashion without notice to the media, the media would at least have an opportunity to ask questions — and Goodell would have a chance to hammer his message home by explaining himself not through a release that pops up on a slow Friday afternoon but by saying in his own words why strong measures were needed, and how important it is that this kind of behavior never happen again.

I'm no one.
Who are you?

BGWhoDat

It's always been projected to come after March 25-28th meetings. All the punishment being handed before hand was speculation. I tend to not listen to that.

alleycat_126

Hey, but Adam Schefter said blah blah blah, so it must be true. He get his news before it happen most times right!!!!

jeanpierre

F**K Adam Schefter - I ever see that guy I'll lead in with a triple jump just before kicking him in the jewels...

Same goes for Peter King and his sidekick Florio the Circus Boy...if any of 'em have a pair...

The evil Doctor Skippy and that latent cissy Tedy Bruschi...no soup or gumbo for them!

Yeah, I'm puttin there names in me book - Happy St. Pat's Day

Oh, by the way, the players union had also asked the league delay the damage until they could do their own investigation...

It's not that my way is the right way, I just make the right way my way...

FinSaint

Yeah, and that request was denied by the league.

jeanpierre

So I wonder what Benson and Payton had to say to Goodell?

ChrisXVI

Sounds like there was a whole bunch of over-reacting to the story and Goodell realizes that it will be kind of hard to punish the Saints when most of the guilty culprits (with the exception of Vilma) are not on the team anymore. Go ahead, suspend our head coach... he turned over play calling duties to Carmichael last year anyways. Even if they take away draft picks, the Saints don't rebuild through the draft like other teams (Tampa, I'm talking about you.)

|Mitch|

Tampas doing a hell of a job rebuilding through Free Agency this year...

ChrisXVI

Not really. Vincent Jackson has never had a badass season with a semi-elite QB throwing to him in Rivers... you think Freeman and Jackson are going to light it up??? They signed Nicks... but since when has a mediocre team been immediately made better by a left guard? Then we come to Eric Wright... one of the worst cornerbacks in the league. We lit him up twice last season so that's a fact. Let's not forget, the Bucs have a completely new coaching staff and this isn't the Big East it's the NFL and they don't have to beat Syracuse anymore... they have to beat the greatest quarterback in the league twice a year lol!

FinSaint

Their O-line was already pretty good without Nicks, so I think they'll be even better next season with him added to the mix.

But the rest I can digest without an argument.