Per ESPN-Anthony Hargrove Suspended 8 games. Vilma for the year.

Vilma out the entire year.

Ouch. Here's to hoping Lawrence Guy joins the rotation this year.

Now you now why GB took the DL help they did in the draft.

Neal and Hargrove combined 12 games.

I assume Hargrove will appeal. And lose.

http://espn.go.com/nfl/story/_...-saints-bounty-roles

Will Smith suspended 4 games, Scott Fujita for 3 games

So... do you run the suspensions of Neal & Hargrove concurrently or consecutively? Or do the Packers even have a choice?

Wow, Fujita getting less.

I'm guessing he's the one who spilled the beans, especially since he's a player rep.

2nd half of the season we might allow less than 10 points per game.

I believe teams get a roster exemption for suspended players, no? If that is the case, the Packers get to hang onto a couple of extra DL... silver lining.

I don't think the team or player get to decide when the suspension is served.

What do expect from someone that is now with his 5th team. Nothing but a journeyman bum. They should never have signed this bum and should cutt his a$$ right now. What a stupid decision to sign this bum

IIRC suspended players will not count as a roster spot while suspended. However, once off suspension, they do.

GB signed Hargrove to a league minimum deal. If they wanted to cut him loose now they could. Not saying they will but no cap issues from what I've read.

Doubtful TT or MM expected an 8 game suspension from this at the time they signed him.

On the bright side, Hargrove will be fresh for the playoffs.

Muir and Guy suddenly become important figures in camp.

This information would have been nice to have prior to the draft. But that's the gamble the Packers knew they were taking when they signed him.

Lot of pressure to put on Worthy and Daniels.

Great. Neal is out for 4 games and Hargrove is out 8 games. Too bad they can't stagger those suspensions.

Guess we're looking at this group for game 1: Raji, Picket, Worthy, Daniels, Muir, and either Wilson/Wynn/Guy. If Neal shows he's ready to play in game 5, I assume one of the last 3 gets cut. I'm starting to think Hargrove isn't playing this year, unless he can beat out Muir.

Yeah, wonder what they do now with Hargrove. Daniels sounds like a similar player so maybe they just cut ties with him

quote:

Originally posted by ChilliJon:
This information would have been nice to have prior to the draft.

The Packers took 2 DE's though. So even knowing this, I doubt they'd take a 3rd since they traded up as much as TT ever had.

And this team has CJ Wilson and Wynn as well.

Packers probably will be kicking tires on more UFA DE/DT's however.

quote:

2nd half of the season we might allow less than 10 points per game.

It's all about WHEN you're playing your best if you want to win it all, right? And with all those division games in the 2nd half of the season, it'll be a critical time to have a full stable of guys. Fresh legs can't hurt.

But this still makes you wonder why they signed him. They knew about it, right? Was it calculated? Do the Packers feel like they're getting an 8 game discount for a player they feel can help? Was it simply a mistake?

Or you keep him until that part of the season. Then when you have an injury or a player not playing well, you have a big boy come in with fresh legs. I remember how much it helped having Green come in during the super bowl season with fresh legs.

That's exactly right Mr. Dog.

The silver-haired, steeley-eyed assassin knew exactly what he was doing when he signed Hargrove. E-X-A-C-T-L-Y!

I don't think I've ever used 3 "exactly"'s in one post before

Hargrove and Neal can do all the OTA, Mini Camp, TC and pre-season stuff. If they really like what they see in either, Im assuming they will ride this out and yes you'd have fresh legs coming in.

There probably is some concern with what kind of shape Hargrove will keep himself in while he's sitting on his ass for 8 weeks. Football shape vs "in shape" 2 totally different things and guys who play DE are big boys.

I'd assume you'd be looking realistically at weeks 10-11 by the time he's actually getting in a game and contributing. Assuming he stays in shape.

I would be in favor of just cutting Hargrove now.. I believe he cant practice or even be at the facility if he is suspended, correct? If true, he gets camp, then disapears for half the season.. He wont be up to speed with the D or in game shape , so really, you get him for about 5-6 games at most..

Just go with this:

Starters
Raji
Pickett
Worthy

Reserves
Daniels
Muir
Wilson/Wynn/Guy

When Neal returns, one of the 3 turds gets cut..

Edit
On second thought, it's not a bad insurance policy to keep him if he isn't taking up a roster spot.. Wait to the suspension is almost up, evaluate your line and see if he is worth it at that point or if there is a better street FA available.. It wouldn't cost them any cash to do this, correct?

I still think they are in good shape. They have Pickett, Raji, Worthy, Daniels, Muir, Wilson and Wynn...along with LAwrence Guy perhaps. Add in Neal after 4 games.

Eight games is more than I expected, but Goodell has been purposefully harsh to show how serious the NFL is regarding bounties.

Surprised there weren't more suspensions. Every defensive player on that team knew what was going on. I agree with BD. Hargrove has faded some the last two years. Having him sit on his a$$ for 8 weeks certainly won't help. If he doesn't count against the roster, I guess they can see how he looks after eating Twinkies for 8 weeks.

I think you hang on to him and see how the team looks mid-season. There's bound to be injuries and a guy like Hargrove could come in and make some noise for the stretch run.

Think of it as having a quality DL in your back pocket when the grind of the season wears on you. Goodell must be a Packer fan. Thanks big guy!

If he plays well in preseason I'd expect they hang onto him. Doesn't hurt

quote:

Goodell must be a Packer fan

Of course he is.

He laughed when I asked him if I could coach the Saints, then he signed my Packer hat

Shhhh....don't tell anyone!

8 games sounded like a lot initially for Hagrove... now I read that he lied to the league/commish back in '09 or '10 when they first asked about this and that is why he got more.

Has anyone from the NFL office sent a full explanation to Drew Brees? Probably a good idea to get on that right away before he issues his demand for one.

Im sure the look on his puss this morning was priceless.

Maybe him and Darlene Sharper can put out an "I don't get it" group tweet.

long from over. here comes the drama.

http://profootballtalk.nbcspor...al-and-legal-battle/

I think the suspensions are just, even for Vilma. Offering $10K to take out Favre was what got Vilma one full year. I'm glad that the Saints made the contingency plans they made in both free agency and the draft.

Now that the suspensions have been handed down, we can finally concentrate on preparing for the season.

"massive legal battle" per Schefter. Wonder if this will be anything like the CAPPS drama. If so, who knows how long this could drag out.

quote:

Originally posted by Tdog:
long from over. here comes the drama.

http://profootballtalk.nbcspor...al-and-legal-battle/

I don't see their appeals and lawsuits going anywhere. They need to save their time and money and suck it up.

If drafting Worthy and Daniels on top of suspensions for Neal and Hargrove don't light a 5 alarm blaze under Wilson and Wynn's arses. In the immortal words of Fortune....



It ain't gonna' never happen!

So does Hargrove make the 53 man roster?

quote:

Originally posted by Tdog:
long from over. here comes the drama.

http://profootballtalk.nbcspor...al-and-legal-battle/

Not sure what their argument would be in federal court, but we'll see. Maybe they can stretch this out in court like the StarCaps case and they play next year. Not too thrilled with Hargrove at this point. Not Packer People.

EDIT: Didn't see your post PB.

quote:

Originally posted by bubbleboy789:
So does Hargrove make the 53 man roster?

Packers don't have to decide that until week 9 (assuming the suspensions aren't held up in a court). And by then, they will know all they need to about how Neal is doing and the state of their DL. And per the GBPG, there is some speculation wondering if the NFL will give the Packers a roster exempt for a couple weeks (like they do with the PUP) as he comes off suspension.

What IMO would throw a wrench into this is if this goes to court, the NFLPA gets these suspensions stayed, and then GB has to decide who to keep and who not to in September knowing that in all probability Hargrove gets suspended at some point..and likely it's the 8 games.

You'd almost hope the NFLPA fails and there is no delay with these. Just get it over with.

It's time for the rookies to grow up quick. Not that Hargrove is a huge loss; I could see him as a rotation player. Neal? Well, last year showed us he couldn't be counted upon anyway.

I wonder what Hargrove would have gotten, or even if he would have been suspended, if they hadn't caught him yelling what he did during the Queens game...

quote:

Originally posted by bubbleboy789:
So does Hargrove make the 53 man roster?

Yes.