All things considered, the Saints caught a break with player suspensions

In an offseason full of bad news, the New Orleans Saints seemingly had to swallow another bitter pill this past week.

If you haven’t heard by now, the NFL completed the penalty phase of the Bounty Gate scandal and suspended four players for participating in the “pay for pain” program.

Of the players suspended, two are still on the Saints’ roster (Jonathan Vilma and Will Smith), while two others belong to other teams (Scott Fujita and Anthony Hargrove).

The headline-catching suspension starts with Vilma, who was given a whopping one-year ban. Hargrove was sidelined eight games and Smith and Fujita were given four and three-game bans, respectively.

My initial reaction when I heard of the suspensions was shock and awe.

How could Vilma be suspended for 12 months for allegedly partaking in a bounty program, but alleged drug dealers or drug users within the league get just a game or two (if anything at all)?

Likewise, how could Vilma’s suspension be comparable to, or even less than, that of those laid down unto guys like Donte’ Stallworth and Plaxico Burress – both guys who have committed actual criminal acts and were found guilty of those same actions by a jury of their peers in a court of law.

But when the initial fizzle simmered and reality sunk in, I realized that my feelings were wrong.

The Saints didn’t get the death penalty shellacking I initially thought.

Truth be told, they actually got off quite easy.

The first factor in this that plays into the Saints’ hands is a little bit harsh, but realistic.

Vilma just isn’t a good player anymore.

Sure, I know that statement has sent your black and gold blood simmering through your veins, but be real with yourself – the guy’s best days are long gone.

He’s just not the player he once was. Heck, I’ll take it a step farther. He’s not even half the player he once was.

Don’t believe me? I’ll let stats speak for me. Last season, Vilma was oft-injured – something becoming a recurring trend for the linebacker (another argument for another day).

But even when he was healthy, he wasn’t even a primary starter anymore.

That’s right – on a team where linebacker is arguably the weak spot, Vilma was no longer a starter.

Will the Saints miss that sort of poor ability? I think not. Especially when you consider that the suspended linebacker’s replacement, Curtis Lofton, recorded 100 tackles last season.

Lofton will do more than fit the bill and New Orleans’ front office truly did the work of a magician by taking the initiative and anticipating the suspension, while also lining up a replacement.

As far as Smith is concerned? He isn’t much better. Sure, he’s the Saints’ best pass rusher. But that doesn’t mean that he’s elite. It just means the team is thin in the pass rushing department.

Smith is woefully inconsistent and losing him will hurt the team in depth far more than it does in production.

The next reason why I believe the Saints got a manageable situation was because of the quantity of the players suspended.

Let’s be real – four guys (two of whom aren’t even on the team anymore) isn’t really a tall task to overcome, especially when one considers how bad things could have been.

There is no way the four players suspended were the only players who embraced or benefitted from the bounty program.

Absolutely no way.

There are 11 defensive players on the field at a given time and everyone on the field had the same hunger that the suspended players had.

It’s just silly to think otherwise.

When the initial reports surfaced regarding player suspensions, speculation yielded that 10, 15 or maybe even 20 players could face bans for one or two games in the aftermath.

Sure, losing a guy like Vilma for a year is tough, but it’s the equivalent of having a starter injured for the season during training camp. That’s something probably 20-25 teams will deal with this fall.

How difficult would things have been if the Saints had to play their first couple games without a dozen players?

An 0-2 start would have been sure to follow, which would have given the team a serious competitive disadvantage.

Heck, for a guy like Will Smith, the four-game ban stinks. But on a positive note, he will now be well-rested for the back-half of the season – a plus for a team with postseason ambition.

So while the NFL’s hammer did hit hard, it truly could have been worse. And now, the Saints can move to the future.

The Black and Gold still have tons of adversity to work through in order to find success in the next season. But at least now they know the full extent to the challenges ahead.

Sure, the path ahead will be tough without Vilma.

But it could have been much worse.

Vilma could have been joined on the shelf by a few more friends.

For the Saints, that’s the first good news they’ve heard in a while.