Saints Bounty Appeal: Harsh Penalties Will Ruin New Orleans 2012 Season

The New Orleans Saints have the deck clearly stacked against them heading into the 2012 NFL season. 

Things looked bleak when commissioner Roger Goodell originally announced the suspensions for head coach Sean Payton and general manager Micky Loomis. 

The appeals process is always a pointless exercise, because unless Payton or Loomis had some hidden piece of evidence absolving them from anything, they were never going to get their suspensions reduced. That ended up being the case, when Goodell upheld his ruling on Monday. 

Now that the Saints know exactly what they are up against, it's time to start focusing on business as usual. 

The problem is, business as usual doesn't really apply to this team this year. This is a volatile situation that figures to explode as the regular season approaches. 

Stability is everything in the NFL. Players have to be able to trust their coaches, and vice versa. Right now, there is no trust or camaraderie in that locker room.

Perhaps that can change when the games get under way, but things are falling apart at the seams for this proud franchise. 

In addition to the chaos surrounding the bounty system, you have Drew Brees reportedly unhappy about being hit with the franchise tag.

The two sides could come to an agreement at some point, they have plenty of time, but it doesn't ease the pain of the suspensions knowing that the face of the franchise is locked in a battle over his future. 

There are a lot of problems the Saints have right now, and not one of them involves fixing the team on the field. All the questions, comments and analysis will be about what has happened with Gregg Williams and the bounty system. 

Players can only deal with so much before their spirit breaks. The Saints have the talent to be one of the best teams in the NFC again, but all the distractions off the field will ultimately spell doom for them when the season begins.

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