Defensive lineman Anthony Hargrove is now a member of the Green Bay Packers. After his suspension of eight games was announced, the question is whether the Packers will keep him. Kim Klement-US PRESSWIRE

With the announcement yesterday that Anthony Hargrove, the Packers’ newly-acquired defensive lineman, would be suspended for half of the season because of his involvement in “bountygate” as a member of the New Orleans Saints, the question about whether Green Bay will keep him around begs to be answered.

The knee-jerk reaction, one that many feel will be completed by Packers’ general manager Ted Thompson, is to cut ties immediately.

But I don’t think that’s the answer.

First of all, the Packers picked up the experienced player for a song. Second of all, the guy will still be able to work out and provide some competitive depth at the position as the team continues to develop their younger players. Just because he’s been suspended for half the season doesn’t mean the Packers can’t still benefit.

If they keep him, the Packers could utilize him for the stretch run starting in November. Inevitably, there will also be injuries along the line by that time in the season and he will certainly be some fresh legs who could provide quality minutes.

In my mind, the more important question is whether the Packers will keep Mike Neal. Yes, he’s also been suspended for four games and has spent the past two seasons injured. Though he came back from a knee injury last season, he was like a ghost player. He literally had no statistics and simply filled a roster spot.

Though Hargrove’s checkered past may scare some, at least he’s a player who made an impact on the field. My hope is that he’s learned his lesson, has moved on and could give the Packers a couple of quality seasons at a position that is crucial for a team’s overall success.

So, the bottom line for me is the team’s success. Though he’s gone for half the year, Hargrove still has significant value for the Packers. Let Ted Thompson and head coach Mike McCarthy worry about the character issue. Had they been worried about it before, they wouldn’t have signed him. Surely, they were aware of the baggage and possible suspension before they signed on the dotted line.

It’s time to move on, concentrate on building team chemistry, develop the young players and bring Hargrove back into the fold when the suspension is lifted.

The newly-released audio of New Orleans Saints defensive coordinator Greg Williams has shocked many. John David Mercer-US PRESSWIRE

Many of you may have already heard this pregame speech given by New Orleans Saints defensive coordinator Greg Williams prior to the NFC Championship Game against the San Francisco 49ers.

If you haven’t, you must give it a lesson. Here is an impassioned man, without a doubt. A man possessed, a man on the attack. In football, that’s what it’s about.

What sets Williams apart is his tact … his mean-spirited demeanor and the wrong approach to winning at all costs. There are other ways to motivate men. Telling them to take out the head to kill the body is the wrong way. Telling his charges to hurt others for their gain is wrong.

If you had no opinion before about the bounty situation and the reason why NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell came down hard on the New Orleans Saints, maybe after giving this a listen you will. This particular three minutes raised the hair on the back of my neck.

Warning: If you have small children in the room, put on a pair of headphones or turn your volume down enough so they can’t hear it. It’s disturbing enough for grown adults. It’s not something for young children.

NBC broadcaster Bob Costas. Geoff Burke-US PRESSWIRE

I’ve always been a big fan of Bob Costas. His coverage over the years has been right on target and this time around I have to say I can’t disagree with him.

Last night he presented his thoughts on the punishments meted out by Roger Goodell on the New Orleans Saints.

Below you will find his comments and here is a link to the video on profootballtalk.com His on-air presentation was a part of  NBC SportsTalk Wednesday night.

Take the time to read or listen to this. Even if you don’t totally agree with what he has to say, he says it well and the information is of importance to all NFL fans.

Here is the text of his presentation:

“I want to stand up and cheer for Roger Goodell.

“Now, the penalty to the players, which may be a little trickier because he may face some resistance from the Players Association; but the penalty for the players will be forthcoming, we are led to believe in about a week, and I think they will also be appropriately severe.

“He has made an important statement today. And anyone who thinks that the Saints are scapegoats because of the present atmosphere in the NFL, maybe their timing was off, but they deserve every bit of this. They are blatantly guilty of something that has no place whatsoever in sports.

“And it goes beyond the idea of bounties. If people interpret this as, ‘Well no one will ever have any bounties anymore’ at least not anything that can be traced, Roger Goodell is sending a message about the culture of the game, about the celebration of a kind of violence, a kind of brutality that goes above and beyond anything that reasonable people should accept.

“It’s understood within football, whether there are bounties or not, that many players, not all, maybe not most, that many players are either indifferent to whether or not they injure opponents or actually take pride and glee in injuring opponents.  There is no question about it.  This is not isolated to the New Orleans Saints.

“The NFL as it is presently constituted is a great, great game that’s exciting in many ways, interesting in many ways, and clearly is America’s most popular sport.  It also has a serious problem because it is fundamentally brutal in a way that reasonable people should no longer accept.

“And Roger Goodell is trying to deal with that, both (a) because it’s the right thing to do, and I believe he is a good man, but (b) because he’s also a businessman and he knows that with all this litigation out there, and more coming, he’s got to position the league as standing as reasonably as it can against excessive and gratuitous violence.”

Former New Orleans Saints defensive coordinator Gregg Williams was indefinitely suspended today for his role in the Saints' bounties. Derick E. Hingle-US PRESSWIRE

Today’s punishments handed down by NFL commissioner, Roger “Kenesaw Mountain Landis” Goodell, was unprecedented, hammering the New Orleans Saints organization like no other commissioner has ever handled a punishment in the league.

Clearly, Goodell is sending a message like none other … and from the sounds of it, things have just started. The talk is the players are next in line for either suspensions, fines or both.

No doubt, this has got to go down in New Orleans Saints history as one of its darkest days. The damage done to the Super Dome during the hurricane a few years back will long be compared to the strong winds blowing through the organization today.

How you feel about it all? Take the poll, leave a comment and let us know.

New Orleans Saints head coach Sean Payton will be sitting at home this fall without a job. Fernando Medina-US PRESSWIRE

I’m sure you’ve seen it blow up on Twitter and Facebook … the news that New Orleans Saints head coach Sean Payton being slapped with a one year suspension with no pay … OUCH! Top that with the news that his former defensive coordinator, Greg Williams being suspended indefinitely, the team being fined a half-million bucks, general manager Mickey Loomis being been suspended for eight games, Saints assistant head coach Joe Vitt being suspended without pay for the first six games of the 2012 season and you’ve got a day that will go down in NFL history.

Many believed NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell would come down hard on this punishment, but he shocked everyone with his sledge-hammer.

Not only will this make NFL history, it will most likely go down as the week of the Payton (or is it Peyton?). Either way, the news that Peyton Manning signing with the Denver Broncos, has quickly been overshadowed by the Sean Payton news and the Saints’ punishment in time and dollars. Also making news today, but as a small sidelight to the Saints is the matter of Broncos former starting quarterback taking his Tebow Time to New York City – what better place for his circus?

While the news about Peyton Manning upsetting the NFL’s quarterback apple cart with his announcement of signing Monday was huge, the shocking news about Sean Payton and the Saints is much, much bigger.

Much will be said about this as the league starts to sort through the fallout. It’s going to affect the entire league, not just the Saints.

And you can bet those cigar boxes filled with cash that have been left laying around NFL locker rooms will most certainly find a way to the hidden corners of the facility.

New Orleans Saints defensive coordinator Gregg Williams talks with linebacker Jonathan Vilma (51). Williams will also be talking with Commissioner Roger Goodell about bounties. Derick E. Hingle-US PRESSWIRE

Bounties; Gregg Williams; New Orleans Saints.

The terms are synonymous these days and with the news that newly-hired St. Louis Rams defensive coordinator/New Orleans, Buffalo, Washington, et al, coordinator/coach being summoned by the league big wigs for a pow-wow about what’s transpired this past weekend, one has to wonder if the fire pit has already been built.

Williams, who has been connected with bounty schemes and play for pay incentives at just about every stop along his career, has been told that he has to report to league headquarters to talk about it. Yes, Williams has gone on record and apologized – publicly admitting that he was aware of his behavior, saying that it was wrong, thus setting up an awkward meeting that will have Williams sitting across from administrators who know deep down that what Williams has done isn’t anything new.

Locker rooms with players’ cigar boxes filled with cash to be handed out to those who fulfill specific incentives is nothing new in professional football and the practice goes back to the early days of the game when it was not only a lot rougher, but not as lucrative. Not only did it add spice to the day’s game, it provided a few extra bucks for the players who not only played the games on the weekends, but held down regular jobs during the week.

To be a fly on Roger Goodell’s wall during this meeting … to hear the noble gestures about ethics and the integrity of the game would be priceless.

No doubt some type of penalties will be incurred – not only by Williams, but by the New Orleans Saints. Press conferences and news releases will include demands by the league for teams to frown upon any future shenanigans and those involved in this most recent activity will again apologize.

Then hopefully everyone will get back to the business of football. There will be hard hits on quarterbacks, players will get injured and carried off the field … that’s the grisly nature of the game.

Will players again get back to slipping one another C-notes? Probably. Will it hurt the integrity of the game? Only if they get caught.

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The question of the day is what should happen now? What will Roger Goodell do? Nothing because it happens all the time? Fine coaches and players? Take away a first round draft pick?

How about banishment? Well, maybe not.

Tell us how you feel. Take the poll.

Matt Bowen, who played a season for the Green Bay Packers and for Greg Williams in Washington, pulls no punches. He’s real, he’s sincere, and he doesn’t make any excuses. As he says, it’s part of the game. Live with it, Commissioner Goodell.

Matt Bowen tells us about bounties - bluntly and matter-of-factly.

So, if you haven’t already seen this post, click here or just see it pasted below:

Though New Orleans Saints head coach Sean Payton wasn't directly involved in the bounty scheme, he didn't stop it when he learned about it. Cary Edmondson-US PRESSWIRE

Today’s news that the New Orleans Saints players and coaches were involved in a bounty payoff system in which money was pooled and exchanged for various on field actions is disturbing … especially in light of the fact that defensive coordinator Greg Williams and head coach Sean Payton were nearly hired by the Green Bay Packers before they took over in New Orleans.

While bounties are hardly something that’s not been a part of football over the past century, today’s announcement by the league is the first such case in recent memory. Given the incredible amounts of money paid to these athletes, it’s unusual to see this type of behavior occurring in the NFL.

According to published reports, Williams is said to have helped manage the scheme and that while he wasn’t directly involved, Payton didn’t stop the action when he was told about it. Williams was a finalist for the Packers’ defensive coordinator’s job a few years back before Green Bay hired Dom Capers and Payton is known for saying he really, really wanted the Green Bay head coaching job before the Packers hired Coach Mike McCarthy.

What will happen with the Saints is not known, but the league clearly has its sights on some sort of punitive action.

League commissioner Roger Goodell will determine the appropriate punishment.

He had this to say today: