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Time to sue.

NuNu318

Yes. Smith is active for Sunday and Vilma is allowed to come back. Vilma of course probably is not ready to play with his knee but he is now able to come and be with the team and get his paychecks.

Danno

Yep, it looks like they said you can still look at it again, and if you can prove intent to injure then you can re-suspend them. But for now it appears Smith and Vilma are NOT currently suspended.

kcsaints

Appeals panel overturns bounty suspensions

In the end, Judge Berrigan didn’t have to issue a ruling at all.

An internal appeals panel has overturned the bounty suspensions imposed on the players, a source with knowledge of the decision tells PFT. The development was first reported by Jim Trotter of SI.com.

“Victory is mine!!!!” Saints linebacker Jonathan Vilma said, via Twitter.

Indeed it is, for now. Unlike any ruling that may have been issued by Judge Berrigan, the ruling from the internal appeals panel, which overturned a prior decision from arbitrator Richard Burbank, is final and binding. The league has no recourse — unless the league chooses to file a lawsuit attacking the outcome of the internal arbitration. (Which is what the players had been trying to do before Judge Berrigan.)

As to Judge Berrigan, she may still issue a ruling adopting and enforcing the outcome of the internal appeal, giving federal credibility to the decision of the panel.

We’ve just received the decision from the panel. We’ll be posting something that explains the ruling in further detail.

Appeals panel overturns bounty suspensions | ProFootballTalk

Danno

Yep, Payton Loomis and Vitt are sure to follow with some sort of appeal or legal action.

TheOak

Someone said this would happen so Goodell could save face and this would go away.

I need to find that post lol

|Mitch|

Will Smith for Sunday and beyond!

Danno

I think Vilma is now eligible for the 6 week PUP and Will Smith is eligible to play Sunday.

TXGSP

If they have nothing other than the evidence they have already released Der Kommisar may just be out-of-luck.

Coaches not included in the CBA, so on/off field may not apply.

Benson (Tom & Rita) should PUSH NOW for the coaches to fall under the Salary Cap violations of the organization... appear that would leave NO WAY TO SUSPEND coaches.

Tobias-Reiper

I posted this before, and I am not a big conspiracy theorist, but I can't help but think that the NFL "hinted" to the panel they needed to reach this conclusion. This conclusion can help Goodell save face, saying he did what he could in the name of player safety, but he will abide by the process set forth by the CBA, all the while avoiding the NFL's "evidence" to be made public, because I firmly believe that the "evidence" either proves all teams had a money pool going, or that the "evidence" is fabricated. Either way, it would be extremely bad for the league.

'Cause the simple man pays the thrills, the bills and the pills that kill