NFLPA grievance filed over New Orleans Saints bounty punishments heard, no decision reached
Arbitrator, Shyam Das on Wednesday heard the National Football League Players Association’s (NFLPA) arguments over one of two grievances filed against NFL commissioner, Roger Goodell’s decision to suspend New Orleans Saints players involved in the bounty
scandal.
The case was heard at NFL headquarters in New York where NFLPA representatives argued their case challenging Goodell’s authority to suspend the players in front of Das for two and a half hours.
According to NFL.com, sources with knowledge of the situation reported, that no decision was made during the hearing and no further meetings are scheduled over this particular case.
The grievance heard by Das challenged Goodell’s authority to hand down punishments relating to player conduct which occurred before the signing of the new collective bargaining agreement (CBA).
According to the NFLPA the commissioner does not have the authority to hand down punishments to players for conduct that occurred before the signing of the new CBA.
Cleveland Browns linebacker, Scott Fujita and Green Bay Packers defensive end, Anthony Hargrove, were also present during the hearings.
Both players received suspensions from Goodell over their leadership role in installing the bounty system during their time as Saints players.
Hargrove and Fujita in addition to Saints defensive end, Will Smith and linebacker, Jonathan Vilma, have also filed appeals which will be heard after the NFLPA grievances have been heard.
A second grievance filed by the NFLPA will be heard by system arbitrator, Stephen Burbank on May 30th.
That grievance challenges Goodell’s jurisdiction to deliver judgements on on-field matters. NFLPA argues that the commissioner’s jurisdiction only applies to off-the-field conduct and since the bounties were paid for hits on-the-field the decision over the
appropriate punishments is not for the commissioner to make.
The Saints earlier in the offseason were found guilty of running an illegal bounty programme in their defensive roster for three years.
Bounties were paid to players out of a $ 50,000 pool maintained by former defensive coordinator, Gregg Williams, to players who successfully injured or knocked out targeted opponents.
This system was maintained for three seasons and the NFL handed down some very harsh punishments on the Saints over the entire affair.
Player punishments though are a contentious issue and it remains to be seen what decision the arbitrators will reach over the entire matter.
Tags: