NFL Roundup: Union seeks scandal restraining order, Cowboys richest NFL team
The NFL Players Association has filed a motion for the players involved with the New Orleans Saints bounty scandal, in the form of a temporary restraining order.
If a federal judge accepts the request, affected players other than Jonathan Vilma would be able to rejoin their teams for regular-season openers. Vilma earlier had filed a similar motion.
The motion was filed Tuesday for New Orleans defensive end Will Smith, Cleveland linebacker Scott Fujita, and free agent defensive lineman Anthony Hargrove. It contends that the players will suffer irreparable harm if forced to miss games while their wait for their cases to be resolved.
All the players want their suspensions tossed because of what they feel was a disciplinary process.
U.S. District Judge Ginger Berrigan is hearing the case. She has previously said that she finds the league's handling of the situation unfair to the players and the punishments excessive, but she has also said she isn't yet comfortable that federal courts can rule on a process that was collectively bargained between the union and the league.
The NFL has claimed to have uncovered a scheme in which the Saints ran a bounty program from 2009 through 2011, in which defensive players were paid cash bonuses to for hits that injured opponents.
In addition to the four suspended players, Saints head coach Sean Payton has been suspended for the season, Saints general manager Mickey Loomis for eight games, and Saints assistant head coach Joe Vitt for six games. Former Saints defensive coordinator Gregg Williams, who is now with St. Louis and allegedly administered the bounty, is suspended indefinitely.
---The Dallas Cowboys are the National Football League's only $2 billion franchise, Forbes announced Wednesday as part of the magazine's annual team value list.
Forbes' executive editor Michael Ozanian called $2.1 billion value "a conservative estimate." He said the publication calculated the team's $80 million in sponsorship revenue, their state-of-the art stadium and the fact that they're the only team in the league that distributes its own merchandise to retailers.
Owner Jerry Jones bought the team for $140 million in 1989, and the franchise value has increased by nearly 715 percent, including inflation.
Jerry Jones bought the Cowboys in 1989 for $140 million. That's roughly a 715 percent increase to today's value, factoring in inflation.
The Cowboys generated $500 million in total revenue last season, a record for an American sports team.
The New England Patriots are second at $1.635 billion. The Washington Redskins ($1.6 billion), the New York Giants ($1.468) and the Houston Texans ($1.305) round out the top five.
---St. Louis Rams coach Jeff Fisher hasn't ruled out a return for suspended defensive coordinator Gregg Williams.
Williams was hired in St. Louis shortly after Fisher became head coach, but was suspended indefinitely by the NFL for his involvement in the New Orleans Saints' bounty scandal. In light of that, Fisher didn't name a defensive coordinator as a replacement.
"We'll discuss that next year," Fisher told Detroit reporters Wednesday, via the Detroit Free Press.
Williams must first be reinstated by the league first.
---Dallas Cowboys tight end Jason Witten is willing to sign a medical waiver that clears the team and its doctors in the event that he re-injure his lacerated spleen during Wednesday's regular-season opener against the New York Giants, team sources told ESPN.
That's how much he wants to face the defending Super Bowl champions.
Witten has consistently proposed signing a waiver as an option, but the team won't accept it as a solution, the sources told ESPN. Witten travelled to New York, but is officially listed as doubtful. Team officials say he is a game-time decision.
---The New England Patriots signed tight end Michael Hoomanawanui to a one-year contract Wednesday.
Hoomanawanui was waived by the St. Louis Rams Sunday, joined the Washington Redskins practice squad on Tuesday and now is a member of the Patriots.
He is famliar with new offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels, who coached him in St. Louis. Hoomanawanui will likely become the No. 4 tight end.
