The team plans to continue to make its case to league officials through back channels in hopes of reducing the penalties. Team officials have already presented evidence to support their cause, but the league maintained its stance. The fine money goes to NFL charities.
— Jeff Duncan (@JeffDuncan_) December 10, 2020
The Athletic’s Jeff Duncan reports that the New Orleans Saints are appealing league disciplinary measures following another failure to adhere to COVID-19 protocols, in which players celebrated in the locker room without masks after defeating the Tampa Bay Buccaneers back on Nov. 1.
Penalties issued to New Orleans included the loss of $500,000 in cash and the forfeiture of a 2021 seventh-round draft pick, justified by the league as evidence of the Saints being repeat offenders. Head coach Sean Payton did not keep his face covered during a few early-season games, leading to previous fines from the NFL.
That was enough for the league to go after the entire organization after the Saints joined many other teams in sharing video of their postgame celebration, which is a stretch. None of those other teams have been hit with penalties this severe, and while the Saints have ceded the financial loss (which goes to funds supporting former players anyway), Duncan reports that they are working “through back channels” to overturn the loss of a draft pick in 2021.
It’s understandable that the NFL has to take a hardline stance on this. But some veneer of fairness in how teams are punished for violations should be required. It’s not like the Saints created dozens of positive cases within their organization and forced a series of games to be rescheduled. Maybe cooler heads can still prevail.
