DeMaurice Smith Wants The NFL To Re-Open The Saints Bounty Investigation

In a wonderful bit of passive aggressive sniping, DeMaurice Smith told Pro Football Talk Live he thinks the Saints bounty "investigators let the commissioner down." Smith is not necessarily saying Goodell is a terrible person, just that he made a terrible decision based on faulty evidence. Like Drew Brees said.

Smith continued:

"Virtually everyone is wondering whether this process has been fair and whether we've achieved our goal of finding the truth," Smith said. "We shouldn't be in a world where players are being punished for something that is inconclusive and unclear."

Smith said he doesn't believe that NFL players set out to injure opposing players.

"It's inconsistent with what our players stand for," Smith said. "It's inconsistent with everything we've done to make this game safer."

This is what happens when you negotiate with the NFL. You wind up collectively bargaining player discipline (and appeals of those decisions) to be in the hands of the person with whom you just collectively bargained as opposed to, say, a disinterested third party. Knowing this investigation was ongoing during the lockout discussions Goodell must have been pissing himself with glee at how this was going to shake out. DeMaurice Smith: Bounty investigators let the NFL down [PFT]