Sean Payton's season-long suspension for his involvement in the Saints' bounty case has many, many stipulations, which all took effect on Monday. For one, he can have no contact with the organization. Let me explain:
1) NO contact allowed with anyone within the Saints organization. If any contact is made, it must be reported to league executive Ray Anderson. He is essentially cut off from ANY New Orleans Saints employee until the day after Super Bowl XLVII, when the suspension is lifted.
2) Both Payton and Saint general manager Mickey Loomis have beach houses about a mile apart from each other in Florida. By NFL law, they cannot even say hello to one another on the beach without Anderson being informed.
Sean Payton's reinstatement depends on how well he abides by these restrictions.
The Saints were fined $500,000 and lost two second-round draft picks for the bounty incident. The NFL determined that Payton lied about the existence of the bounty program and instructed his defensive assistants to do the same.
Loomis was suspended for the first half of the season and Joe Vitt, who will be the interim coach in the preseason, was suspended for the team's first six regular season games.
Defensive coordinator Gregg Williams, the mastermind behind bounty-gate, was suspended indefinitely and will most likely never work in the NFL again.
NFL Commissioner Roger Goddell is expected to suspend and punish the Saints players for their role in the bounty program. There were between 22 and 27 current and former players involved.
Source: espn.go.com
