ROGER GOODELL: ‘We all need to move forward’ from Saints’ scandal

NEW YORK — This is the week in the New Orleans Saints "bounty" affair during which all parties will have what could be their final chances to be heard before NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell. And Goodell hopes that all will have rested their case by the end of the week.

With an Monday afternoon meeting with the NFLPA looming, and four appeals on his docket for later in the week, Goodell spoke of pursuing a conclusion in the Saints scandal as he made a promotional appearance at the league’s new pop-up store in midtown Manhattan.

"I think we all need to move forward," Goodell said. "I think it’s important for all of us to be open about what we’ve been able to find. We’ve released it publicly. We’ve given the NFLPA two of our confidential reports, which we’ve shared with our clubs — they’ve gotten the same report. And we’ll have the meeting today, hopefully they’ll get some more information, we’ll get a recommendation from them."

The union position has been that it’s not the NFLPA’s place to make a recommendation on the severity of sanctions set to hit a number of its members, some percentage of the 22-27 Saints cited in the league’s 50,000-page report. Rather, according to sources, the NFLPA’s legal team that arrives in New York Monday was coming to gather further clarity on the scope of evidence against players in the case.

That, according to Goodell, will not be a problem.

"For the last month, we’ve made it clear that we’d be happy to share the information," the commissioner said. "I’ve said from the first moment I told De about this information that I’d be happy to share it with him, and make sure he understood what happened."

The league already has levied punishments against the club itself, general manager Mickey Loomis, coach Sean Payton, assistant Joe Vitt and former defensive coordinator Gregg Williams. All but Williams have filed appeals, and all will be heard by the end of the week, with the expectation that decisions will come quickly.

Goodell was asked if Payton and Loomis will meet with him Tuesday, and answered, "I don’t know yet. I believe it’s later this week."

But the commissioner was very clear about his feeling on why stringent discipline was needed.

"This has been going on for three years," Goodell said. "We’ve been investigating this, we’ve met with various personnel with the Saints. And for three years, they denied this was going on. It’s clear it was going on, and that’s one of the reasons the punishment is harsh. I think, from our standpoint, we want to find out (during the appeal) if there’s information that we’re not aware of and take that into consideration, and we’ll deal with it from there."

When asked why the investigation took so long, Goodell said, "Because they denied it — they denied it repeatedly. And eventually, we were able to get a credible source that came up late last year that gave us information that made it clear that it was going on."

NFLPA executive director DeMaurice Smith and the union’s legal team met with Saints quarterback Drew Brees and defensive end Will Smith, and ex-Saints linebacker Scott Fujita at the organization’s player rep meeting in March in Marco Island, Fla., to gather more information.

The union has also hired outside counsel to handle the case, and has told players that criminal charges are possible, but a very remote possibility. Asked about the possibility of criminal charges against the team, executives, coaches or players, Goodell said, "I don’t know. That’s up to the lawyers. We have to focus on our part of the process, which is to evaluate all the information and make determinations."

In the meantime, Payton has acknowledged talking with Bill Parcells about taking his place on an interim basis. Some have criticized the idea, saying Payton shouldn’t be able to pick his successor, but Goodell saw it differently.

"I don’t agree with that," Goodell said. "At the end of the day, these are management decisions that (owner) Tom Benson has to sign off on. He’ll get recommendations, from Sean and Mickey, I’m sure, and others, and make his determination. If it ends up being Parcells, and they’ve gone through the full process, that’s their decision. They need to make those decision."

As for the possibility of a Parcells return, Goodell said, "Bill’s a great coach, and he will add a lot of personality and intrigue, and he’s as competitive as they get. I’m sure he’ll do a great job."

Also brought to Goodell’s attention was the "Save Sean Payton" rally held in New Orleans over the weekend. The backlash in New Orleans wasn’t among his concerns.

"We have 32 clubs. We have rules in the league. And when rules are violated for three consecutive years and they deny it, there are gonna be consequences," Goodell said, noting he’d talked to "dozens" of players in the last few weeks. "That’s the way it works. We have fans in 31 other markets that want to make sure the game is played the right way. I know the fans in New Orleans get frustrated by what happened, and I understand that, but they also want the game played the right way, and we’re going to ensure that."