Appeal denial wasn’t all bad news for Saints,
Interim coach still unknown
OK, so that Hail Mary pass to get Roger Goodell to backtrack on those big New Orleans Saints brain trust suspensions fell incomplete. Back to Plan B. Sean Payton is out of his job as coach for a year, soon to be followed by assistant coach Joe Vitt’s sixgame suspension and general manager Mickey Loomis’ eight-game ban.
The real big news Monday, when discipline for the bounty scandal was upheld, would have come if a lied-to commissioner with a reputation as a hanging judge and a statement to make would have softened up.
Instead, the Saints can continue on with the contingencies.
The offseason conditioning program begins Monday, and there’s a chance that on the day Payton begins his suspension his interim replacement won’t be named.
There’s only so much of a rush. New collective bargaining agreement rules dictate that the only coaches allowed for the first two weeks of the offseason program are strength and conditioning coaches.
Dan Dalrymple and Charles Byrd, you’re in charge, guys.
Bill Parcells? He’s undoubtedly on watch now. Parcells e-mailed this reporter Monday, noting, “Have heard absolutely nothing.”
Yet that timely response hardly reveals any clues. He could hear something on, say, Thursday morn- ing. Although Parcells told me nearly two weeks ago that he would need to know a few things before making a decision if the Saints followed up on consultation talks and offered him a temp job, some of the key components of the situation are pretty clear. Among them:
-Payton can’t have contact with the team during his suspension. He can’t break down videotape and email the quarterback about the gaping hole in the Atlanta Falcons’ dime package or call Parcells with a 20play script to run against the San Francisco 49ers. Payton has long bounced many things off Parcells. Chances are he’s briefed Parcells in recent weeks . . . just in case.
-Jonathan Vilma’s not the one to build the defense around. Of all the players implicated in the scandal, none has been identified as ringleader and most likely to draw the stiffest suspension — like the eighthyear veteran middle linebacker.
While the team captain is accused of offering $10,000 for a bounty on Brett Favre, it is conceivable that the NFL Players Association will try to cast doubt about the seriousness of the offer and press for more examples of his participation.
The Saints lost Vilma’s backup, Jo-lonn Dunbar, as a free agent but have signed free agent linebackers Curtis Lofton, David Hawthorne and Chris Chamberlain.
-The Saints need to settle up with Drew Brees. It’s a shame the contract standoff between the team and quarterback got to this. He set the single-season passing record, won a Super Bowl and got kneedeep in the community’s efforts to rebound from Hurricane Katrina.
Now he’s needed to be the glue that keeps the machine flowing during a new crisis — in the locker room and on the field. But if franchisetagged Brees isn’t around, it just adds another layer of disruption.
Despite losing the appeal, the Saints at least bought themselves a bit more time. New Orleans still won’t pick until the third round this year, 89th overall. But for 2013, Goodell is dangling the “good behavior” carrot of tweaking the penalty; maybe he’ll give back the secondround pick and take away a fourthand fifth-round pick instead.
Then again, this hinges to a degree on Payton, Loomis and Vitt selling sportsmanship, NFL style. That may not constitute a Hail Mary, but it is a pass they need to complete.