Williams getting indefinite suspension doesn’t surprise me, but Payton getting suspended for a whole year does.
Now in the NFL how exactly does a head-coach suspension work? Is he banned from all Saints’ activities or even from setting foot in their practice facilities or the Superdome? It’s an open secret that in MLB suspended managers simply continue managing from the clubhouse, but how does it work in football?
and how do you keep a GM from working behind the scenes?
You have to wonder if the Saints organization will make any changes. They won’t have a head coach for a year, won’t have a GM for half a season and won’t have a assistant HC/Linebackers coach for 6 games. They currently don’t have their star QB under contract beyond this year either. Gonna be tough for Loomis to negotiate that deal when he’s suspended, but the “8 games” isn’t very detailed about what that means for this offseason. Presumably he’ll be able to work up until after final rosters are established prior to week 1.
Perhaps worse is the leadership vacuum this will leave. No Payton so no HC or OC. No Vitt, so no assistant HC. The DC was let go and is now also suspended from the Rams staff. Who the heck would be next in line for them? The new DC Spagnuolo would probably be the logical choice but he’s brand new, though at least he has HC experience. Wonder if Boogie Benson will consider letting Payton go and giving the job to him permanently. In any case I think he’s in line for a big raise.
You have to look at salary numbers. I can’t find the exact numbers, but you figure Wallace is going to make anywhere between 2-5 times as much as a late 1st. Is he going to be 2-5 times better over the next 4 years than whoever you pick? Maybe, but I’d have to think the odds are against it.
With Manning as the QB you don’t need someone who can beat double teams or can consistently work himself open. Manning will find the open guy. You just need solid options around him, which the Broncos probably have.
Usually in the NFL it means banned form team facilities completely. For a Coach that’s a deal breaker. Whether he’s banned now or starting in Week 1 will be a big question. For a GM that’s probably also a deal breaker since he needs to be there to consult with the HC and training staff and discuss moves with the owner, but with the internet it might become somewhat manageable. If I’m the Saints I’d be really, really leery about skirting the rules on this stuff though after this punishment. Just think how bad it’ll get if Goodell finds out Loomis or Payton violate the punishment. If there’s a NFL death penalty, we’d be liable to learn what that might look like.
Tebow has uses on the goal line and other similar situations. Besides, they have Drew Stanton and McElroy as their backup QBs. If Sanchez goes down or sucks, Tebow gives them a better chance to win than those guys.
Good point. Goodell certainly realizes that if Loomis or Payton flouted the suspension and got away with it, every future suspension of a GM or head coach is meaningless. You almost want them to do it just so you can see how far Goodell will go…
Damn, Payton is my favorite coach. Back to a league of gutless coward HCs aside from Belichick. Will be a less interesting year.
Brees isn’t signed yet, is he? Any chance he jumps ship because the Saints are going to have a troubled year?
No, Brees has not signed a contract.
My initial reaction to hearing the Tebow news was that the Jets must be really butthurt that the Giants won the Superbowl and felt they needed to make a splash to win back the newspaper coverage.
It will be tough with him under the Franchise tag.
That sounds like the Jets alright. Rex Ryan generates a ton of copy but it’s slowly dawning on people that his record isn’t all that great. The problem with the trade, according to ESPN, is that the Jets want the Broncos to pay the remainder of Tebow’s salary advance ($5 million) and the Broncos want the Jets to pay at least some of that amount. The full trade, if it happens, is Tebow and a seventh-round pick to the Jets and a fourth- and sixth-round pick to Denver. There is some talk that Tebow could be traded to the Rams if things fall apart with the Jets. I don’t know what’s more surprising: that the Jets might do this, or that the same contract issue was too much for Jacksonville to swallow.
Law Firm (BJG Ellis) to the Bengals?
As a Bucs fan, I’m quite excited about this Saints kerfuffle.
Times like these (Tebow to Jets) are what make me glad that I root for a legitimate NFL franchise. My Giants fandom goes a long way towards making up for my Mets fandom.
The shame about the whole bounty thing is the Payton and Williams are good enough coaches and the Saints were a good enough team that they really did not need this bounty system to win. Now, the entire legacy for all of them will begin and end with this, even overshadowing the comeback from Katrina and the SB win.
All of who? Williams wasn’t with the franchise during the Super Bowl season.
Um, they hired him the January before their SB year.
http://blog.nola.com/saintsbeat/2009/01/gregg_williams_hired_as_new_or_1.html
http://www.neworleanssaints.com/team/coaches/gregg-williams/5d6c0fc5-98da-4431-8490-4f1566a24b2a
I think we may have some idea of why news is so quiet with Mike Wallace. According to PFT Mike Wallace told 49ers he wants more than Larry Fitzgerald. I love Wallace but he’s not in the same ballpark as Fitzy. Is he definitely better than Marshall, Bowe, V-Jax, Welker, White or Austin? I’m not sure.