From Ed Werder, Adam Schefter, and Chris Mortensen of ESPN:
The NFL has offered to reduce New Orleans Saints linebacker Jonathan Vilma‘s year-long suspension to eight games as part of ongoing settlement talks involving the league, the NFL Players Association and legal representatives for the four players who were suspended for their alleged participation in the team’s bounty program from 2009-2011, according to sources familiar with the discussions.
The league’s offer was made late last week but it is conditional upon Vilma dropping a civil lawsuit charging commissioner Roger Goodell with defamation of character, sources said. Vilma has expressed his strong feelings about his tainted reputation.
Whoa! If this is accurate, then that certainly raises a ton of questions regarding this whole investigation. It’s clear that this case isn’t exactly a slam dunk for the NFL, and that the evidence presented against Vilma and the Saints isn’t holding up.
This also opens up a huge pandora’s box. Will this eventually lead to a shorter suspension for GM Mickey Loomis and Head Coach Sean Payton? Those possibilities, once unfathomable, seem very realistic.
UPDATE:
NFL spokesman Greg Aiello has released a statement:
Today’s report about a settlement offer by the league to Jonathan Vilma is completely inaccurate. No such settlement offer has been made. We will continue to respect the court proceedings on this matter and have no further comment at this time.
