Saints Bounty Scandal: Ledger Evidence Isn't Good Enough to Justify Suspensions

To justify their suspensions of four New Orleans Saints players for the 2012 season, the NFL is going to need more evidence than just a vague ledger of bounty information, which was leaked to Jason Cole of Yahoo! Sports this week.

Per Yahoo! Sports:

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The NFL has a copy of a "ledger" that was kept detailing weekly earnings for players in the New Orleans Saints bounty system, according to two sources with knowledge of the investigation.

The ledger, which shows both money earned for "cart-offs" and "whacks" and deducted for "mental errors," also points to the fact that players were told on a week-by-week basis of their performance.

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Saints linebacker Jonathan Vilma was suspended for the entire 2012 season as a result of his alleged role in the team's bounty program, which means there should be some real evidence that Vilma was part of these transactions; otherwise, the suspension shouldn't hold up.

If the bounty system did exist then the NFL is right to punish the team and the organization in the appropriate manner.

Per ESPN.com:

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The players all have appealed their suspensions. While none of the punished players has denied that the Saints ran a pay-for-performance pool similar to those run by other teams, they have denied that they ever pledged or received cash for injuring a targeted opponent.

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While there's certainly some evidence that there was a bounty system (such as the audio tape of Gregg Williams), we need to see some evidence that links players to these rule violations in order to justify suspending them for multiple games. Unless there's evidence that Vilma played a large role in the bounty program, you cannot suspend him for the year.

You would think that Goodell must have some strong evidence on Vilma since he suspended him for 2012, and in time we may see this evidence.

There's just too much vagueness in this ledger. The term "knock-out" could mean the biggest hit of the game, and not necessarily an illegal hit that was delivered with the intent to injure.

This ledger isn't good enough to convince me that these players deserved their suspensions. I want better proof. Without it, Vilma and the rest of the Saints should have a strong case to have their punishments lifted or decreased.

When the legal hearings involving the players commence, the NFL will have a chance to unveil a smoking gun that will justify the suspensions, but for now, this ledger isn't convincing enough.

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