NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell will hear appeals on the punishments he handed down for the Saints’ bounty scandal on Thursday.
Albert Breer and Steve Wyche of NFL Network report that at least some — and maybe all — of those punished will have their appeals heard Thursday at the league office in front of Goodell.
Saints head coach Sean Payton is appealing his yearlong suspension, General Manager Mickey Loomis is appealing his eight-game suspension and assistant head coach Joe Vitt is appealing his six-game suspension. The Saints are also appealing the team’s $500,000 fine and forfeiture of two second-round draft picks.
It’s highly unlikely that Goodell will overturn any of his punishments on appeal, as he indicated at the league meetings last week that he thought he had all the information he needed at the time he handed down the punishments. But the appeal does buy Payton some time, as his suspension was supposed to begin this week, and it buys the Saints more time to work out a plan for an interim head coach, which will likely be either Bill Parcells or one of the team’s assistants.
Goodell says he’ll expedite his ruling and will announce his decision on the appeals shortly after he hears them.
