NEW ORLEANS -- Jonathan Vilma, Scott Fujita and Will Smith are back in the NFL.

For now.

The suspensions of those players, plus unsigned free agent Anthony Hargrove, for their roles in New Orleans' pay-for-pain bounty scandal were lifted Friday by a three-member appeals panel.

The league reinstated them all a few minutes later.

Vilma plans to attend Sunday's season opener against the Washington Redskins, a team source previously told ESPN's Ed Werder. But the three-time Pro Bowler, who is recovering from a knee injury, cannot play since the Saints used their roster exemption and did not include him on their active roster.

Smith did not practice this week and his status has not officially been determined, but the defensive end likely will play in the NFL debut of Washington rookie quarterback Robert Griffin III, the source told Werder.

Fujita, now with the Cleveland Browns, also may play Sunday against Philadelphia.

And Hargrove can start talking to NFL teams about giving him another shot after he was cut by the Green Bay Packers during the preseason.

The ruling does not affect New Orleans coach Sean Payton (suspended for the season), interim coach Joe Vitt (six games) or general manager Mickey Loomis (eight games).

There's no telling how long the reprieve for the players will last.

Coming just two days before the first full slate of NFL games this season, the ruling is a setback for commissioner Roger Goodell and the league. But while the decision allows the players to rejoin their teams, it does not permanently void their suspensions.

NFL spokesman Greg Aiello said Goodell would "make an expedited determination of the discipline imposed" for violating the league's bounty rule.

"Until that determination is made, the four players are reinstated and eligible to play starting this weekend," Aiello said.

League sources told ESPN NFL Insider Adam Schefter that Goodell is likely to reach a new decision in the coming weeks, but it will not be before this weekend's games.

Vilma, who had been suspended the whole season, tweeted: "Victory is mine!!!! -stewie griffin."

Added Fujita: "I'm overwhelmed with all the support. Thank you so much everyone. Can't tell you how much it means to me."

If Vilma (base salary of $1.6 million), Smith ($825,000) and Fujita ($3.65 million) are on their respective teams' rosters Sunday, their base salaries will be guaranteed for the 2012 season.

"I think it is an extremely strong statement that a three-judge panel unanimously ruled to lift the suspensions," Saints quarterback Drew Brees told Werder. "It makes you feel like they took a very hard look at all the evidence there and saw that we were in the right. ... Today makes you feel like justice has been served."

While the panel did not address the merits of the NFL's bounty investigation, it found that Goodell overstepped his authority in hearing the players' appeals of their punishments for participating in the Saints bounty program, which paid cash bonuses for hits that injured opponents.

The panel's decision states that Special Master Stephen Burbank, not Goodell, should discipline players for receiving money from a pool that paid for big plays. Goodell's role, the panel said, should be limited to whether he can prove the players intended to injure opponents, which would fall in the category of conduct detrimental to the game. Players and coaches implicated in the bounty pool have testified under oath in a related federal court case they never intended to injure opposing players.