New Orleans Saints: Delaying Saints Player Penalties Is a Terrible Idea for NFL

Commissioner Roger Goodell and the NFL are delaying both the decision and announcement of the bounty penalties that will be levied on several players of New Orleans Saints until after the 2012 NFL draft. 

But by delaying a decision that many thought would be settled by the draft, Goodell is wasting an opportunity to put the entire bounty scandal in the NFL's rear-view mirror. The Saints should have been made aware of the impending penalties before the draft as well.

Here is what he said Wednesday from New York City, via the Shreveport Times:

"

I don't anticipate (a decision before the draft). We want to complete the work we've started. We want to make sure we're thorough and fair. I would think with all the work we have to do with the draft in the next couple of days, it's not likely we'll get it done in advance.

"

Goodell went on to say that the draft will take him away from the rulings for several days. 

"

Once we're done, we'll issue it (the rulings), but we're going to be distracted by the draft the next couple of days, so I don't know how much time I'll be able to spend on it. We have others working on it. I'll meet with them over the next several days.

"

While you want the right decision to be made in such a high-profile case like this, Goodell and the NFL should have had an answer for the Saints before the draft.

New Orleans is owed nothing in this ordeal, but from a personnel standpoint, the Saints would have likely preferred to know which players were getting hit hard before the draft. According to Sam Farmer of the Los Angeles Times, as many as 22 to 27 players could be disciplined by Goodell for their part in the illegal bounty program that New Orleans employed for the better part of three seasons.

Reinforcements, even in the form of late-round picks, could have been better planned to help Band-Aid the suspensions Goodell is likely to render in this case. 

Goodell also has to deal with the lingering story that is the bounty scandal.

By announcing the punishments pre-draft, the NFL could have said goodbye to the scandal's place in the news and welcomed the flood of coverage that the draft provides each spring. Bountygate would be nothing more than a footnote compared to what NFL fans will covet over the next several weeks in terms of draft information.

Now, the NFL must revisit what has become one of the league's biggest black eyes in recent history. The story just won't go away. 

"We're in the final stages of working on the discipline that will involve the players," Goodell said. "We hope to do that very soon and get that behind us."

Goodell had his chance to put the scandal behind the league and out of the news for awhile. He has lost that opportunity now, as the draft kicks off tonight at 7:00 p.m. EDT. 

Expect the NFL to reopen this wound sometime after the draft.