Saints Bounty Punishment: Complete Fallout from NFL's Biggest Scandal

NFL commissioner Roger Goodell pretended he was Thor, as he brought the hammer down on the New Orleans Saints with unprecedented force. 

The punishments stem from the Saints' involvement in a bounty program instituted to reward players for injuring opposing players. 

In the eyes of the NFL, the failures of the Saints go beyond just the system itself. Goodell addressed that a statement that was quoted by Pro Football Talk's Mike Florio. Goodell:

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A combination of elements made this matter particularly unusual and egregious. When there is targeting of players for injury and cash rewards over a three-year period, the involvement of the coaching staff, and three years of denials and willful disrespect of the rules, a strong and lasting message must be sent that such conduct is totally unacceptable and has no place in the game.

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In light of that, those involved with this program are going to be severely punished. As reported by Florio, here are the fines and suspensions they are currently facing

• The New Orleans Saints are fined $500,000. 
• They will forfeit their second-round picks in the 2012 and 2013 NFL drafts.
• Beginning April 1, Saints Head Coach Sean Payton is suspended without pay for the entire 2012 NFL season.
• Saints GM Mickey Loomis is suspended without pay for the first eight regular-season games of the 2012 season.
• Effective immediately, Rams defensive coordinator, and defensive coordinator of the Saints during the time in question, Gregg Williams is suspended indefinitely from the NFL.
• Discipline for players involved is still under review by the NFL Players Association. Their punishment will be addressed by Commissioner Goodell at a later date.

The NFL did not levy these unprecedented suspensions without conducting a thorough investigation. They uncovered many details about the process of the bounty and its attempted cover-up. 

Florio states that the investigation's findings were corroborated by multiple independent sources. 

It also wasn't all from outside sources. The proof was in the results. 

During the time in question, the 2009-2011 seasons, the Saints were in the top five teams in roughing the passer penalties and sixth or higher in unnecessary roughness penalties.

Also, in the 2010 playoffs, the Saints were assessed $45,000 in fines for fouls against opposing players. That included the game they pounded Brett Favre into the turf. 

Jason La Canfora of the NFL Network tweeted that the league had pinpointed specific players that were targeted by the bounty program.

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The NFL, in its statement today, says its investigation showed Warner, Favre, Aaron Rodgers and Cam Newton were targeted by the Saints

— Jason La Canfora (@JasonLaCanfora) March 21, 2012"

A lot of this information came from the coach most closely connected to the program, Gregg Williams.

Saints beat writer, James Varney, reports that after initially lying about the incident, Williams opened up like a disgruntled mobster hoping to avoid life in prison.

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NFL says now Gregg Williams also lied when first confronted; says he later laid out the whole scheme for investigators.

— James Varney (@jvarneyTP) March 21, 2012"

Williams' suspension is not a huge shock. Neither is his cooperation. His eventual reinstatement hinges upon his cooperation and behavior during his suspension. 

All suspended parties are expected to atone for their sins by helping eliminate this kind of conduct from football. Florio relayed this message from the league. 

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The Saints and the individuals disciplined today are expected to participate in efforts led by the league office to develop programs that will instruct players and coaches at all levels of the game on the need for respect for the game and those who participate in it, on principles of fair play, safety and sportsmanship, and to ensure that bounties will not be part of football at any level.

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While Williams' suspension was not a surprise, head coach Sean Payton's was—especially to him.

Fox Sports' Jay Glazer talked with Payton and relayed the conversation on the NFL Network, which Michael David Smith of Pro Football Talk was kind enough to quote. 

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I did talk to him and he’s stunned to say the least. I think the entire team thought maybe there’d be a four-game suspension, but not a year. I said, ‘Are you OK?’ And he said, ‘No, I’m not OK.’ He is stunned. He’s going to lose about $8 million. He is beside himself here.

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Florio relayed what Payton was guilty of that led to such a harsh punishment. 

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Payton to supervise the players and coaches and his affirmative decision starting in 2010 (a) not to inquire into the facts concerning the pay-for-performance/bounty program even though he was aware of the league’s inquiries both in 2010 and 2012; (b) to falsely deny that the program existed; (c) to encourage the false denials by instructing assistants to “make sure our ducks are in a row;” and (d) to ignore instructions from the league office and club ownership to ensure that no such program existed.

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It is going to be interesting to see how the league handles the punishments of the individual players. In those cases, they do not have free reign to issue suspensions and fines because the NFLPA is also involved, but you can't imagine the NFLPA is going to be overly anxious to protect players that were involved in a program to reward them for injuring other players. 

And whatever happens to the individual players, the punishments are going to affect the Saints franchise for years to come. This will come in a variety of ways, starting with the suspension of their coach and the loss of draft picks.

This will undoubtedly make it harder for them to lure players in free agency, and it certainly won't help in their contract negotiations with Drew Brees, who is currently reluctantly on the franchise tag.

This is an ominous day for the Saints history.