Let's not put the cart before the horse. I haven't seen or heard yet what Walsh has as "evidence". Before deciding what's fair don't you think it would be prudent to know what, if any new evidence there is. He may very well have copies of tapes that were already confiscated and that's it. Or he may have that smoking gun that so many are salivating for. On the other hand he may have only the words that come out of his mouth for evidence. To be honest, I can't help but wonder if that's all he has. ie: an eye witness account. That could explain why he's asked for such blanket protection against any litigation.
Regardless; while you and many others believe the Pats penalties were too light, I do know that their's was the most severe ever handed down.
[FONT=helvetica,arial,sans-serif][SIZE=-1]Three years after salary-cap violations by the 49ers were suspected, NFL Commissioner Paul Tagliabue announced the settlement. Policy will pay $400,000 and Clark $200,000. The 49ers agreed to pay $300,000 and surrender their fifth pick in the 2001 draft and third selection in 2002. The settlement, made with the agreement of the NFL Players Association, also calls for the player agents involved — Leigh Steinberg, Jeff Moorad and Gary Wichard — to contribute $350,000 to charities. But the players involved will get their money, and it won't count against the 49ers' salary cap, an apparent oversight in the settlement procedure. The league then decided to increase its power to punish future violations by allowing for suspensions of a year, fines of up to $3.5 million, and the loss of two No. 1 draft choices.
[/SIZE][/FONT] In December 2001, the Broncos were fined $968,000 and lost a third-round pick in the 2002 draft for violations reportedly relating to $29 million in deferred payments to quarterback John Elway and running back Terrell Davis.
On Thursday, the league announced that the Broncos have been fined $950,000 and will lose a third-round selection in next year's draft for circumventing the salary cap between 1996 and '98. The penalties were set in an agreement between the league, the Players Association and the Broncos and resolve a case against the team brought before the sport's special master by the NFL's Management Council in January 2003, the league announced.
Again, even though you believe the penalty wasn't harsh enough, you should be able to take solace in knowing that losing that second 1st rd pick screwed up BB's plan. Consider: he knew that he was going to lose several players to FA this year - several DBs in fact. I would think that he also knew this upcoming draft was deep with DBs. He probably planned on being able to draft 2 CBs in rd 1. Or he could have used them both to move up and get Chris Long or McFadden. Who knows? But watching as several FAs have left the Pats this year, it seems pretty clear that losing even that one #1 pick was a blow to them.
But really let's wait and see if Walsh has something first. If he does, then IMO he should be suspended for the upcoming season. But consider this as well.
You've probably noticed that the NFL is pretty much closing ranks on this thing. For them, this is becoming less about the Pats and more about the image of the league overall. They're anxious for it to go away.
If Walsh does in fact have some tapes (excluding the alleged SB walkthrough) then once the NFL views them who can contradict them if they say they're copies of the same tapes that Goodell had destroyed last Fall? In other words - no new evidence.
Another possibility, as I stated before is that all he has are the words coming out of his mouth.
But, if he has a tape of a walkthrough practice of the Rams, then that would be noteworthy. If this is the case then he does have something.
at you and your team.
