NEW YORK (AP) — Sean Payton now knows for certain he won’t be coaching in 2012.
And the New Orleans Saints must figure out whether Bill Parcells or someone else is best suited to take over a team seeking its fourth straight trip to the playoffs.
NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell on Monday rejected the Saints’ appeals of their unprecedented punishment stemming from the league’s investigation of the club’s bounty system. The program ran from 2009-11 and offered offthe books bonuses for big hits that knocked targeted opponents out of games or hurt them enough that they required help getting to the sideline.
In addition to upholding Payton’s suspension, which begins next Monday and runs through the Super Bowl — in New Orleans next season — Goodell also upheld suspensions of eight games for general manager Mickey Loomis and six games for assistant head coach Joe Vitt, along with a $500,000 fine for the franchise and the loss of second-round draft picks this year and next.
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