New Orleans Saints head coach Sean Payton set to appeal suspension - NFL News
New Orleans Saints head coach Sean Payton is expected to appeal his one year suspension which comes into effect on Sunday, April 1st.
The league suspended the head coach after the Saints were caught running an illegal bounty program that paid players on the defensive roster to injure targeted opponents.
Payton has till April 2nd to appeal the decision and according to sources close to the head coach he will file his appeal with the league on Friday.
This will allow the head coach to meet once again with National Football League (NFL) commissioner Roger Goodell and work out the specifics of his suspension. The appeal will also delay the suspension till a new decision is reached.
However, the delay will not be long enough to keep Payton at the franchise for the 2012 Drafts and Goodell has already said that the decision on the appeal will be given quickly in days.
The Saints were slapped with hefty fines and suspensions after a NFL report earlier in March revealed the existence of a bounty program for three seasons including New Orleans 2009 run to the Super Bowl.
It was revealed that the Saints ran a pool of $ 50,000 and paid players $ 1,000-1500 for injuring opponents.
The report also claimed that Payton and general manager Mickey Loomis knew about the programme run by the then defensive coordinator Gregg Williams.
The Saints were fined $ 500,000 and had their second round draft picks taken away for two seasons. Payton received a one year suspension the first time in history of the NFL that a head coach has been suspended. General manager Mickey Loomis received an
eight-game suspension while assistant coach Joe Vitt was also suspended for six games.
Vitt and Loomis are also expected to appeal their sentences.
The assistant coach’s attorney confirmed the filing of an appeal on Friday.
"(Vitt) and I discussed our concern that his appeal be consistent with the (NFL coaches) association's view that coaches also coach sportsmanship and fair play. Based on these discussions, I am confident that Joe's appeal and his long history in the NFL
are consistent with our belief that there is no place at any level of football for bounties that target players."
The Saints will have to sign a new head coach if Payton’s suspension is upheld and rumours of ex-coach Bill Parcells taking over are already doing the rounds.
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