> A three-member panel has overturned the suspensions handed down by the NFL in the bounty case, and all four suspended players — New Orleans Saints linebacker Jonathan Vilma, defensive end Will Smith, Cleveland Browns linebacker Scott Fujita, and at-large defensive lineman Anthony Hargrove — are free to play this NFL season. It is a crushing defeat for the league and Commissioner Roger Goodell.
> “Consistent with the panel’s decision, Commissioner Goodell will, as directed, make an expedited determination of the discipline imposed for violating the league’s pay-for-performance/bounty rule,” the NFL said in a statement. “Until that determination is made, the four players are reinstated and eligible to play starting this weekend.”
Things just got really interesting.