New Orleans Saints Player Bounties: 5 Punishments NFL Should Consider

The New Orleans Saints "Bounty Program" has seemed to rock the NFL over the last few days.

How can a coach like Gregg Williams even consider running a program that rewards defensive players for taking opposing players out of the game?

What's even more disturbing are his comments made on Friday, where he said, "It was a terrible mistake, and we knew it was wrong while we were doing it."

So, Williams is admitting that he knew it was wrong during the process of doing it, so the "I didn't know" defense isn't going to work here. It's sickening that even though he knew it was wrong, he did it anyway.

NFL commissioner Roger Goodell is now in a position where he has to make a decision on what to do about this situation.

He can't simply ignore it and hope it goes away. That will only anger other players, teams and the fans.

So, what does Goodell do?

The following are five suggestions for Goodell when it comes to the Saints and for Williams, who is now the defensive coordinator for the St. Louis Rams.

Ban Him from the NFL

There have been countless people calling for Williams to be banned from the NFL, including Bleacher Report contributor John Altamura in this article.

It's been reported through other outlets that Williams instituted the same bounty programs during his stints with the Washington Redskins and Buffalo Bills.

With that, I'm not going to disagree with people who are calling for Williams to be banned from the league.

As Doug Farrar of Yahoo Sports quoted an anonymous player in his article, when he recalled Williams saying that "If you cut the snake's head off, the body will die."

So now, we turn those words back on Williams, as Farrar so eloquently did at the end of his article, "Goodell's next act must be to realize that Williams' apology is completely hollow, that his repugnant modus operandi will remain under other names and guises unless it is killed forever and that removing Williams from the game on a lifetime basis is the best way to start. Gregg Williams said it best: If you cut the snake's head off, the body will die."

Maybe it is the best way.

If banning Williams for life from the NFL, then I suggest...

Suspend Him for a Lengthy Time

Just like players are held to a personal conduct policy, coaches should be as well.

If Williams isn't banned for life, then a suspension is warranted.

Although Williams is now with the Rams, a suspension still must go through, which would leave the Rams with a tough decision on whether to support its new defensive coordinator or let him go for the better of the team.

Williams at the very least should be suspended for a full year and be placed on at least five years of probation once he returns. That probation should include an assigned person from the league office who will shadow Williams at various points during practice, games and film sessions to ensure he isn't breaking his probation.

And yes, there should be a fine as well.

My suggestion is that Williams be fined at least how much money was dished out in bounty hits.

Now, onto the Saints.

Take Away Draft Picks

There's nothing like taking away draft picks to get your point across.

Goodell did that to the New England Patriots during Spygate in 2007, when he docked the Pats of their original first-round pick in the 2008 draft.

I have two suggestions when it comes to the Saints loss of draft picks.

Solution No. 1

Dock the Saints of their first-round selections for three years to equal the number of years the bounty program is "known" to have happened in New Orleans. Taking away a first-round pick for three years in a row could seriously hurt the Saints in their ability to draft talent to fill holes in their team left by starters who were released to provide relief for the salary cap or left via free agency. Although, if this option were chosen, then I don't see the Saints releasing players for salary-cap relief.

Solution No. 2

Dock the Saints of all selections in the 2012 NFL draft. By doing this, you limit the team to only being allowed to sign undrafted free agents, forcing the team to look for cheaper option via free agency or put their hopes on the undrafted players. This option could make it harder for the Saints to recover from and could hurt the team for many years to come. 

Impose the Largest Fine in NFL History

After everything from Spygate came down, Patriots head coach Bill Belichick drew a $500,000 fine from the league, while the team was fined $250,000.

Those numbers are on the low end of what the Saints and head coach Sean Payton should be fined, as this deals with player safety, which is a big issue currently with Goodell and the NFL.

My suggestion is that the Saints are fined at least $1 million, while Payton is fined $500,000 or more.

While a fine doesn't really do much in terms of deterring this behavior in the future, I think it goes a long way in helping the NFL support some programs that have come to the forefront.

With Bounty-Gate dealing with player safety, the NFL could put this money towards insurance funds for former non-star players who didn't make millions and millions over their career, but have the same amount of problems the star players do.

Loss of Home Game(s)

Not only is taking away draft picks and fining players and teams a good option, but the NFL should consider possibly taking away home games from the Saints.

I have two more suggestions on how the NFL could take away home games from the Saints.

Option No. 1

Schedule them for the annual game in London for two years, designating that as one of their eight regular-season home games. This will not only be great for fans in London who would love to see the Saints live, but it will also hurt the Saints in their bottom line, as they won't be getting any ticket, parking, souvenir or concessions money. This is where the NFL could hurt the Saints the most, although it wouldn't be considered very fair to Saints fans.

Option No. 2

Take away two home games for the 2012 season. Leave the three home games against divisional opponents, but take away two home games from non-divisional opponents, instead giving the home game to either the team they're facing (giving two teams nine home games for the season) or putting them at a neutral site in a non-NFL market. This would give some fans an opportunity to see an NFL game in a stadium that's never seen an NFL game.

Think about it: Saints versus the Eagles, 49ers, Chargers, Chiefs or Redskins in something like Michigan's Big House. Or, how about "Between the Hedges" in Athens, Ga.? Or maybe on Boise State's blue turf. Not only would this hurt the Saints' bottom line again, but it would also provide NFL fans with a scene that has never been seen and probably won't ever be seen again.

So, those are five punishments I think the NFL should consider. How many will the NFL actually do? I think at least three will happen, those being the suspension and fine of Williams, the loss of draft picks for the Saints and a huge fine for the Saints.

Regardless of what happens, the punishment should be one of the worst imposed in NFL history.

Do you agree? Let me know.