Tagliabue vacates bounty suspensions

Mike Garafolo, USA TODAY Sports | USATODAY

The implicated players in the New Orleans Saints bounty case got the appeals process they wanted.

And now, they have the verdict they wanted, too.

Tuesday, former NFL commissioner Paul Tagliabue vacated all player discipline – suspensions and fines – levied by current commissioner Roger Goodell, according to league spokesman Greg Aiello, even though Tagliabue affirmed the factual findings Goodell made in the case.

This means the suspensions Goodell imposed on Jonathan Vilma, Will Smith, Anthony Hargrove and Scott Fujita were wiped off the board.

But as much as the league wants this long-running headache to go away, it probably won't – because Vilma won't let it.

The Saints linebacker is still angry about a year-long suspension (and accusations) he received from Goodell, even though he didn't serve a game of it. Vilma missed time with injuries and returned in time to play when his suspension was set aside temporarily.

The ruling doesn't appear to have short-circuited his defamation lawsuit against Goodell. Peter Ginsberg, Vilma's attorney, said Vilma is "definitely going full force" with the lawsuit. "A hundred percent," Ginsberg added.

Saints quarterback Drew Brees, who has been an outspoken critic of Goodell in this matter, tweeted to the players: "Congratulations to our players for having the suspensions vacated. Unfortunately, there are some things that can never be taken back."

Tagliabue, however, ruled Goodell has little, if anything, to take back.

"Unlike Saints' broad organizational misconduct, player appeals involve sharply focused issues of alleged individual player misconduct in several different aspects ... My affirmation of Commissioner Goodell's findings could certainly justify the issuance of fines. However, this entire case has been contaminated by the coaches and others in the Saints' organization," Aiello quoted Tagliabue via Twitter.

"Having reviewed the testimony very carefully, including documentary evidence that is at the center of the conflict, and having assessed the credibility of the four central witnesses on these matters, I find there is more than enough evidence to support Commissioner Goodell's findings that Mr. Vilma offered such a bounty (on then-Minnesota Vikings quarterback Brett Favre)," Tagliabue wrote.

Tagliabue's decision appears to serve two obvious purposes: It allows Goodell to save face by affirming his findings, and it tries to remove a scandal from the headlines at a time when the NFL is in the midst of a public relations nightmare – a recent murder-suicide by Kansas City Chiefs linebacker Jovan Belcher and the death of Dallas Cowboys practice squad linebacker Jerry Brown in a car crash involving teammate Josh Brent, who was charged with intoxication manslaughter.

As Tagliabue's ruling was announced, the Cowboys were on their way to a memorial service for Brown.

Tagliabue took a swipe at the Saints: "Making matters far more serious – as well as challenging for Commissioner Goodell and League investigators – Saints' coaches and managers led a deliberate, unprecedented and effective effort to obstruct the NFL's investigation into the program and the alleged bounty," Tagliabue wrote.

Tagliabue made it clear his ruling left no wiggle room for Saints coach Sean Payton, who is serving a season-long suspension: "Commissioner Goodell's findings and the resulting suspensions of Saints' personnel are final and no longer subject to appeal," Tagliabue wrote.

Goodell fined the Saints $500,000, forfeited the team's second-round draft selections in 2012 and 2013, suspended Payton for the 2012 season, suspended Saints general manager Mickey Loomis for eight games and fined him $500,000, suspended Saints' assistant head coach Joe Vitt for six games and fined him $100,000, and suspended former Saints defensive coordinator Gregg Williams indefinitely.

Current and former Saints players and coaches have acknowledged the existence of a performance pool that rewarded key defensive plays, including hard, legal tackles, but they have denied organizing or participating in a program designed to intentionally injure opponents.

The probe, overseen by Goodell, covered three seasons and gathered roughly 50,000 pages of documents. That investigation concluded Vilma and Smith were ringleaders of a cash-for-hits program that rewarded injurious tackles labeled as "cart-offs" and "knockouts." The NFL also concluded that Hargrove lied to NFL investigators to help cover up the program.

Tagliabue ruled Fujita did not engage in conduct detrimental to the league because he only offered a performance-based incentive.

Ginsberg said the ruling was a big victory in terms of Vilma's career.

"He was concerned about his reputation and the ability of the NFL to malign him personally," Ginsberg said. "Jonathan has every intention to pursue his lawsuit against Commsioner Goodell to prove he has been unfairly maligned.''

Ginsberg said Vilma will pursue his lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Louisiana.

Ginsberg said Tagliabue did a good job in the appeals hearing that included testimony from Williams and whistleblower Mike Cerrulo, although Tagliabue said in his ruling that "neither was shown to be not credible on the specific issue of whether Vilma offered a bounty on Favre."

Said Ginsberg: "I obviously feel Paul Tagliabue got it right that he concluded there should be no discipline against Jonathan. We're obviously extraordinarily relieved and pleased that Jonathan no longer is facing the totally unjustified suspension. On the other hand, we are concerned that Mr. Tagliabue's decision still leaves the impression that Commissioner Goodell's arguments were justified.

"We also are concerned for the Saints organization, which Jonathan and I have nothing but ultimate respect for. And we hope to clear the record about those accusations."

None of the players has served a game of their suspensions, and they were allowed to play while appeals were pending. Shortly before the regular season, the initial suspensions were vacated by an appeal panel created by the league's collective bargaining agreement. Goodell reissued them with modifications.

Vilma received a full-season suspension, and Smith was docked four games. Hargrove initially received an eight-game suspension that was trimmed to seven games. For practical purposes, that was reduced to two games because he was given credit for five games he missed as a free agent after being cut by the Green Bay Packers before the regular-season opener.

Fujita's initial suspension was reduced from three games to one, with the league saying that he failed in his duty as a defensive leader to discourage the bounty program run by Williams.

Tagliabue's ruling came after a new round of hearings that for the first time allowed Vilma's attorneys and the NFL Players Association, which represents the other three punished players, to cross-examine key NFL witnesses in the probe.

The NFL tried late last week to settle the matter, but the players rejected the league's proposal. Although the NFL's offer would have reduced or eliminated some suspensions, players still would have been fined and forced to admit guilt. Hargrove's agent, Phil Williams, confirmed the settlement offer in an interview with CBS on Sunday, but he did not go into detail.

In a phone interview with the Associated Press on Monday, the agent said Hargrove already "had been punished as bad as the NFL can possibly punish a player."

"Not only did he lose a year, but the NFL dragged his name through the mud and lied about him," he said.

Several teams inquired about Hargrove after Green Bay cut him, Williams said, but they all expressed reservations about signing the veteran defensive lineman before the bounty matter had been resolved.

"I got calls from the beginning of the season until the middle of the season, and then they stopped," the agent said.

Contributing: Jim Corbett, USA TODAY Sports staff and the Associated Press