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Updated: May 16, 2012 4:24 PM
Posted In: Saints
Source: Associated Press

NEW YORK - An arbitration hearing into whether NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell has jurisdiction to punish Saints players for the team's bounties program has been set for May 30.

The players' union has asked arbitrator Stephen Burbank of the University of Pennsylvania to rule if the players should be punished for the system that the league says ran for three years. The union argues that Burbank, not Goodell, should hear the appeals filed by Jonathan Vilma, suspended for the 2012 season, Will Smith (four games), Anthony Hargrove (eight games) and Scott Fujita (three games).

A separate hearing is being held Wednesday before arbitrator Shyam Das after the NFLPA filed a grievance saying Goodell can't discipline players for their actions before the collective bargaining agreement was signed in August.

Updated: May 14, 2012 10:01 PM
Posted In: Saints
Source: Associated Press

METAIRIE, La. (AP) - Saints coaches say they are going to have to get use to the huge void left by Sean Payton's suspension for his role in the team's bounty system. They also might have to get use to life without Drew Brees.

Interim coach Joe Vitt and the rest of the coaching staff met with reporters Monday following the team's rookie minicamp, during which 64 newcomers practiced five times from Friday to Sunday.

Vitt says he and Payton would do a "lot communicating on the practice field" and not having the head coach around "was a huge void right from the get-go."

Brees remains unsigned after the Saints put the franchise tag on him in March.

Offensive coordinator Pete Carmichael sounds confident, saying, "They will get this worked out."

Updated: May 7, 2012 3:10 PM
Posted In: Saints
Source: New Orleans Saints

METAIRIE, La. - The New Orleans Saints have signed free agent defensive tackle Remi Ayodele to a one-year contract, Executive Vice President/General Manager Mickey Loomis announced Monday.

Ayodele, 6-2, 318, has appeared in 60 career games with 42 starts, recording 160 tackles (65 solo), four sacks, two pass defenses, two forced fumbles and one fumble recovery. After playing for New Orleans from 2008-10, he spent the 2011 season with the Minnesota Vikings, where he appeared in all 16 games with 13 starts, recording 22 tackles (11 solo) and 1½ sacks.

A product of the University of Oklahoma, Ayodele first joined the Saints as a member of the team's practice squad at the outset of the 2008 season and was a solid contributor on the middle of defensive line for three seasons, appearing in 37 contests and starting 29 at nose tackle, making 133 tackles with 2½ sacks, two pass defenses, one forced fumble and a fumble recovery, which came in the end zone for a touchdown.

The five-year NFL veteran also appeared in four postseason contests for New Orleans with two starts, making ten tackles (five solo and one fumble recovery. The 29-year-old lineman previously had stints with the New England Patriots, Baltimore Ravens, Atlanta Falcons and Dallas Cowboys.

Updated: May 7, 2012 11:09 AM
Posted In: Saints
Source: Associated Press

NEW ORLEANS- Saints linebacker Jonathan Vilma has appealed his season-long suspension under the NFL's bounty investigation, which named him as a ringleader of the cash-for-hits system.

In papers filed Monday, Vilma argues that Commissioner Roger Goodell should not hear the appeal and asks for a delay in the process until the matter of who should decide on it has been settled through NFL Players Association grievances filed last week.

Vilma's appeal states the NFL has not presented evidence linking him to a system in which players were paid to injure opponents. It asks the league to provide documentation, including witness statements.

Vilma was one of four players given suspensions of various lengths in the NFL's bounty probe, along with Saints defensive end Will Smith and former Saints Anthony Hargrove and Scott Fujita.

Tags saints new orleans vilma nfl