I don't think that Goodell was seriously trying to hurt our chances at "contending", trying to send a message to other teams is not the same thing.

Ask yourself this: Who lied?

The GM?
The Coach?

And who is ultimately responsible?

The Owner?
The Organization?

Look man, this thing stinks to high heaven. And I firmly believe the Saints were excessively punished, as an organization. But Loomis and Payton and Williams (especially) put the entire franchise at risk when they allowed this to continue AFTER being warned by the commish of the league - the SAME guy who has been trigger-happy on safety since becoming the commissioner of the NFL. AND ALLOW IT TO BE VIDEO TAPED!!! :doh:

If Sean Payton wasn't such a good coach, his ass would be GONE

For the life of me, I don't know why Saints fans aren't more upset about losing the draft choices because that DIRECTLY shows Goodell over-reaching and wanting to hurt the team's future on-field abilities.

The punishment is supposed to fit the crime. What do draft picks have to do with "Bounty Gate" anyway???? Williams set this up: he's suspended. Payton, Loomis, Vitt let it go on: suspended. Why should the Commissioner hurt the on-field future of the team for past actions when he's already penalized...very harshly...those who did the dirty deeds? There's at least 35 other players on the team that weren't involved, so why penalize them...or the fans (who still have to pay full price for their tickets) by taking away draft picks and potentially hurting the team's future performance? Affecting the competitive balance of the league is WAY BEYOND what a Commissioner should be able to do.

It's like a high school suspending your kid for bad behavior and trying to garnish the parent's future wages.

Other than vindictiveness and Goodell wanting to make sure the team's future performance is impacted as much as possible, can somebody PLEASE enlighten me with the rationale for taking away future draft picks for past actions when you've already harshly penalized those responsible? I mean, let's face it, because of the cover-up the Commish had some valid reasons for suspending Payton (although it was overly harsh), Loomis, Vitt and perhaps even the players. But draft choices? How do those figure in???

And why aren't more of you upset by that???

WHAT THE?

Name one person that calls themselves a Saints fan that isn't pissed off at it?

Don't take offense Danno. It's just that in all the postings here and on other sites (profootball.com, etc.), I haven't seen comments on the fact that while there is some validity (weak, I'll grant you) for the Coach and GM suspensions, there really is none for the draft picks. That's what we should be screaming about because it shows Goodell's bias and real intentions are way beyond just punishing those he feels are responsible for past transgressions, and more towards trying to ensure the team isn't as competitive in the future.

Ive been saying the same thing sense this started. GW got what he deserved, feel sorry for the RAMs thou,lol. The rest is a little over the top, but the draft picks make no sense at all, unless your trying to affect the team as a whole.
The offense had nothing to do with this.

Draft picks: Because the next time somebody farts while Roger is in the room he wants to have history. He wants to be able to say, "The last time somebody farted in my presence I suspended, fined, and docked draft picks."

No that just means we overcame adversity. Either way we still wont be the same without SP at the reins but our system is good enough anyone can jump in and seem genious. But i'm sure Roger and the Viqueens wont likey.

OK... I can see that. But I think precedent was set with the Patriots cheating so everyone assumed we'd lose a pick. Two picks was more than I thought it would be, but the suspensions were grossly over the top.

When you get kicked in the balls, a titti-twister just doesn't get as much attention.

OK... I can see that. But I think precedent was set with the Patriots cheating so everyone assumed we'd lose a pick. Two picks was more than I thought it would be, but the suspensions were grossly over the top.

When you get kicked in the balls, a titti-twister just doesn't get as much attention.