Look On The Bright Side: The Saints Just Saved $10 Million

The NFL has come down hard on the Saints for their role in running a bounty program, and it's not cheap: the team must pay a fine of $500,000. But they'll recoup that easily, because head coach Sean Payton's one-year suspension is without pay. According to Jay Glazer, Payton's salary is about $8 million annually.

Then, consider that the Saints will also forfeit their second-round draft picks in 2012 and 2013. Last year, the average signing bonus for a second rounder was $1.65 million. That's $3.3 million or so they won't have to pay.

The Saints also won't be on the hook for eight weeks of GM Mickey Loomis's paychecks, and six weeks of Joe Vitt's.

Sure, you could argue that the Saints would rather have their coaches and front office and draft picks back. But they should really take any silver lining they can find.