The Saints and teams employing former members of the Saints defense will enter the draft without knowing whether their players will be suspended for any portion of the 2012 season.
NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell said Wednesday that the league is still doing interviews and will not complete them in time to hand down any decisions this week. During a media session in New York, Goodell said that the investigation is in the final stages and he hopes it will be completed soon.
Although there had been reports earlier this week that the penalties could be forthcoming, the delay isn’t particularly surprising. The league likely has no interest in creating a story that takes any thunder away from the draft, especially one that casts the league in a negative light.
Mike Freeman of CBSSports.com reports that penalties could come early next week and that the NFLPA believes that there will be severe penalties for one or two players on the Saints defense. Linebacker Jonathan Vilma, accused of putting up a $10,000 bounty on Brett Favre, could be one of those players. Per Freeman, the union will fight the penalties.