The NFL revealed the punishments for New Orleans Saints bounty program Wednesday morning and Green Bay Packers defensive lineman Anthony Hargrove is one of several players caught in the cross-hairs of Commissioner Roger Goodell.
Hargrove has been suspended a whopping eight games for his involvement and participation in the bounty program. The reasoning behind Hargrove’s suspension is that he “actively obstructed the league’s 2010 investigation into the program by being untruthful to investigators.”
According to a report by ESPN in early March,between 22 and 27 Saints players took part in Greg Williams’ bounty fund in which defensive playmakers were compensated for attempting to knock out opponents. Inflicting injuries on direct players was a big part of the program.
Linebacker Jonathan Vilma, one of the team’s heroes during their Super Bowl run in 2009, allegedly placed $10,000 on a table in the Saints locker room for any player who could knock Brett Favre out of the NFC Championship Game. If you remember, there were several ugly hits on Favre during that game that went uncalled by referees. The NFL later came out and said a few of the blown calls should have gone in favor of the Minnesota Vikings.
The Packers knew signing Hargrove could be a gamble considering his involvement in the bounty program. This is why they only signed him to a one-year, $825,000 contract, in which only $540,000 will count towards Green Bay’s salary cap due to the NFL’s minimum salary benefit program.
It is no wonder the Packers drafted two defensive tackles in Jerel Worthy and Mike Daniels last weekend in the 2012 NFL Draft. Green Bay not only wanted to make sure they were covered on the defensive line long-term but also short-term in case they have to play a part of the season without Mike Neal and Hargrove. Neal was suspended four games for taking an illegal performance-enhancing substance.
The Packers were originally thought to be releasing several current members of their defensive line to make room for new players, but now with two suspensions it is hard to say who will stay and who will go. The good news is general manager Ted Thompson knew Hargrove’s suspension was a strong possibility and covered his own end.
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