Saints coach Sean Payton has decided to appeal his season-long suspension.
Payton will file that appeal today, NFL Network’s Jason La Canfora reports. Payton reportedly will also ask the league office to give him more clarity about how much time he has to prepare his appeal, and will ask to see all the evidence the league office obtained during its investigation.
It’s highly unlikely that Payton will win this appeal. NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell was the person who handed down the suspension and is the person who will decide the appeal, and when Goodell was asked about the possibility of an appeal at the league meeting, he sounded skeptical that Payton could provide him with any information he didn’t already have at the time that Goodell decided on the suspension.
However, the appeal will buy Payton a little more time: His suspension was slated to begin on Sunday, April 1, but Goodell will allow Payton to keep working until the outcome of the appeal has been determined. That may give Payton more time to convince his buddy Bill Parcells to become the team’s interim head coach this season.