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Full Story – Nola.Com
There are a dozen defenders on the New Orleans Saints' roster who were with the team between 2009 and 2011, the period in which the NFL claims the team ran a "bounty" scheme paying financial bonuses for plays that sidelined opponents for all or part of a game.
NFL salaries are notoriously difficult to pinpoint and decipher, but information available to The Times-Picayune shows New Orleans paid those 12 players still with it -- defensive linemen Jeff Charleston, Sedrick Ellis and Will Smith; linebackers Jo-Lonn Dunbar, Ramon Humber, Scott Shanle and Jonathan Vilma; cornerbacks Jabari Greer, Tracy Porter and Leigh Torrence; and safeties Roman Harper and Malcolm Jenkins -- more than $103 million during the three-year span in question. Of that group, only Vilma has been mentioned in published reports about his alleged role in the scandal, a $10,000 bonus the NFL said he offered for any player that took out Vikings quarterback Brett Favre in the 2009 NFC championship game. Club officials have said Vilma denies the episode.All told, between 22 and 27 Saints defenders were "willing and enthusiastic participants" in the scheme that offered somewhere between $1,000 and $1,500 (more during the playoffs), according to the NFL's report. The league's figures make it a near mathematical certainty some of those still with the club were involved.
By James Varney / Times-Picayune
Full Story – Nola.Com