Tag: suspended

New Orleans barbecue restaurant bans Mike Evans for life

Owned by avid Saints fans, a New Orleans barbecue restaurant has banned Mike Evans for life after he started yet another fight with their hometown team:

Choosing to make yourself a persona non grata in one of America’s finest food cities is certainly a choice, but we’re guessing that wasn’t on Mike Evans’ mind when he instigated another brawl in Week 2’s game between the New Orleans Saints and Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The all-time leading receiver in Tampa Bay’s record books has been banned for life from the New Orleans-based Blue Oak BBQ restaurant.

Owned by avid Saints fans, Blue Oak BBQ announced Sunday that Evans isn’t allowed within their establishment after his cheap shot on Lattimore started a fight that got them both ejected from the game, and which later resulted in Evans being suspended for Tampa Bay’s next matchup. By Monday morning, a sign formalizing the decision to ban Evans from the premises was posted on their door.

Famous for its fried chicken sandwich, daily specials, and sides (we’d recommend the Brussels sprouts and roasted garlic mac and cheese), the restaurant’s location on North Carrollton Avenue in New Orleans is also a popular sightseeing stop for the reactions to each week’s Saints game shared on their roadside sign. It’s a shame Evans won’t get to try it himself, but there’s no stopping you and yours.

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NFL suspends Mike Evans for a single game after his second offense against the Saints

NFL suspends Mike Evans for a single game after his second offense against the Saints

There it is: the NFL announced Monday morning that it has suspended Tampa Bay Buccaneers wide receiver Mike Evans for his role in a bench-clearing brawl during his team’s game with the New Orleans Saints on Sunday, sidelining Evans for their upcoming game with the Green Bay Packers. ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler reports that Evans is expected to file an appeal against the suspension.

So that’s the only league discipline being handed down from the incident so far — but a series of fines should be on its way to various pocketbooks in Tampa Bay and New Orleans. Evans attacked Saints cornerback Marshon Lattimore after he responded to a shove from Buccaneers running back Leonard Fournette, and at encouragement from former Tampa Bay head coach Bruce Arians, who was on the Buccaneers sideline egging things on for some reason. Lattimore won’t be suspended for defending himself, but he’ll likely have to pay for it.

All of them could receive hefty fines from the league office in New York, as could other players involved in the altercation, but we’ll have to wait and see. Those notices are typically sent out around Saturday afternoons the following weekend. It’s the second time Evans has been suspended for one game after starting a fight during a matchup with the Saints; he did this exact same thing back in 2017, throwing hands at Lattimore after a play when his attention was elsewhere. He appealed that suspension, too, but it was unsuccessful. Keep an eye out for updates on this front.

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Dennis Allen comments on Thursday arrest of Marcus Maye

Saints coach Dennis Allen comments on Thursday arrest of Marcus Maye:

New Orleans Saints safety Marcus Maye was arrested Thursday morning on charges of aggravated assault with a firearm, with the Jefferson Parish Sheriff Office accusing Maye of pointing a gun at another vehicle on Monday. Maye has since been released upon posting bail and issued a statement denying the accusations through his attorney.

Saints coach Dennis Allen shared a brief statement on the situation during his regular Thursday media availability session, telling Nola.com’s Luke Johnson that “We were made aware of it this morning and we’re still gathering all the information, so we’re not going to have a comment on it at this time until we get more information.”

That suggests the team wasn’t aware of the situation prior to their decision to trade safety C.J. Gardner-Johnson to the Philadelphia Eagles on Tuesday, but Allen did leave himself so wiggle room so we’ll avoid further speculation. At any rate, Maye likely won’t be suspended until the legal process wraps up, which could take months. The NFL’s established precedent is to wait for a legal resolution before issuing any internal discipline, but they’ve changed course before. So stay tuned for further updates.

This is a developing story.

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Deshaun Watson suspension extended to 11 games, will play vs. Saints

The NFL extended its suspension for Browns QB Deshaun Watson to 11 games, ensuring he will play against the Saints in Week 16.

Cleveland Browns quarterback Deshaun Watson’s suspension was extended from six games to eleven on Thursday, with Watson also receiving a $5 million fine and an agreement to begin counseling in his settlement with the NFL. Watson has previously settled with dozens of accusers who alleged sexual misconduct, which led to this discipline from the league office. That $5 million penalty may be the largest ever handed out by the NFL, but it’s just 2.1% of the fully-guaranteed $230 million contract Watson signed with Cleveland.

Why eleven games? The NFL could have simply doubled his suspension from six to twelve, but instead this allows his contract to toll (paying the $1 million minimum salary he had signed for in 2022) and ensuring he’ll receive the full $46 million in 2023 that may have been jeopardized, so it’s at least partly a concession by the league to Watson’s camp. Additionally, his first game back will be on the road against the Houston Texans, where he started his NFL career, so there’s a cynical homecoming/redemption narrative readymade for broadcasting. It’s gross all around.

So what has this got to do with the New Orleans Saints, who threw themselves into the middle of Watson’s mess in trade talks earlier this year? Watson is now expected to start in Week 16 when the Saints visit Cleveland for a game on Dec. 24, meaning he’ll avoid facing every NFC South squad except for New Orleans. It’s an ironic twist to this saga, but it can’t be helped. We’ll see if the Saints defense can better guard Watson in this rematch after narrowly escaping with a win during their last meeting, the 2019 regular season opener, which New Orleans won 30-28 off of a last-second Wil Lutz field goal from 58 yards. They’ve got plenty of time to prepare.

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Deshaun Watson’s suspension would’ve been too short even if Calvin Ridley didn’t get a year

Ridley is suspended a whole season for betting on games.

Original (August 1, 2022) We don’t need precedence to know Deshaun Watson got off easy with a suspension of only six games after facing civil lawsuits from 24 women for alleged sexual misconduct.

However, when compared to another recent discipline handed down by the league this year, Watson’s suspension looks especially egregious. And NFL fans were quick to point it out.

In March, Falcons receiver Calvin Ridley was suspended for at least the entire 2022 season for betting on NFL games. The thinking with Watson was that if gambling warranted a year, multiple allegations of sexual misconduct would surely warrant something more severe — if not a lifetime ban from the NFL.

Instead, Watson received a third of Ridley’s suspension. And while fans were wondering how that could be, one of Ridley’s teammates, Cordarrelle Patterson, was also moved to post something on Twitter.

Patterson apparently wants Ridley’s suspension reduced, which is fair considering there were no victims in his offense. But the real issue isn’t that Ridley’s punishment was too harsh — it’s that Watson’s isn’t harsh enough.

Ridley was suspended a year because past violators of the league’s policy on gambling were also suspended a year. Similarly, Watson was suspended six games because that’s in line with past “non-violent sexual conduct” violators, as disciplinary officer Sue L. Robinson termed it.

Deciding punishment based on what the NFL has always done without questioning whether it should be revisited is not only outdated, but a sure way to get it wrong every time.

That Watson was suspended at all is clear acknowledgment of his guilt.  Robinson called his behavior “more egregious than any before reviewed by the NFL.” But suspending him six games, whether intentional or not, sends a message that his conduct was not as bad as betting on games — or any other violation that resulted in longer suspensions — when it’s objectively worse.

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Report: ‘More and more unlikely’ Alvin Kamara will be suspended in 2022

ESPN’s Adam Schefter reports that it’s ‘more and more unlikely’ Alvin Kamara will be suspended in 2022, with his latest court date delayed until after the season starts:

What’s the latest on Alvin Kamara? The New Orleans Saints running back hasn’t appeared in court since his arrest in Las Vegas early this year, having been charged with beating a man outside a nightclub. His legal representation won another delay in hearings back on Aug. 1, setting his next court date for Sept. 29 — days before kickoff with the Minnesota Vikings in London, when Kamara will presumably be overseas.

The NFL won’t issue any discipline until the legal process plays out, and it’s unlikely a resolution will be reached at this Sept. 29 meeting that would prompt the league to hand down a suspension. If things keep moving two months at a time, odds are Kamara’s won’t see anything from the league office during this season. That’s what ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported on Monday during an appearance on ESPN Fantasy Field Pass.

“I think the league is going to be looking into this, but it is going to be a while, it seems, before this legal case is settled,” Schefter said. “There’s a real chance that the status of that case is not going to effect his availability this season. … But in terms of this season, it looks more and more unlikely that it’s going to be this season as attorneys keep pushing out the case, it keeps being pushed back. And by the time there is resolution to it, the season may well be underway, and Alvin Kamara may be on the field for the majority if not all of this season.”

As Schefter suggested, the league will eventually conduct its own investigation, and Kamara is expected to miss six games due to the violent nature of the accusations. But it would be surprising to see him suspended during the 2022 season given how slowly legal proceedings are carrying out. Things could change unexpectedly, but it’s looking like this situation will continue to drag on into 2023. Stay tuned for updates.

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Alvin Kamara’s Las Vegas battery case delayed another two months

Alvin Kamara’s Las Vegas battery case has been delayed another two months, putting doubts on a possible suspension during the 2022 season:

Alvin Kamara was busy practicing at New Orleans Saints training camp on Monday while attorneys representing him and three other defendants were asking for a 60-day delay in Las Vegas court, stemming from his arrest at the Pro Bowl early this year. 8 News Now’s David Charns reported the delay from Las Vegas.

It’s the third time the case has been pushed back — Kamara’s first court date occurred back in February, and was moved to April. At that point the defense requested more time to review their case, delaying it until August.

With this request granted, Kamara’s next court date will be scheduled for either late September or early October — well past the start of the 2022 regular season either way. The NFL won’t hand down any discipline until after the legal process is resolved, so if he does serve a suspension (and that isn’t guaranteed) it’s unlikely to happen this year. There’s a good chance this drags on further into 2023. That’s the case for his teammate Marcus Maye, who is waiting on a resolution to his Feb. 2021 DUI arrest in Florida.

So that’s good for the Saints in the short term. They’ll have one of their best players leading the team when they kick off with the Atlanta Falcons in a month, and for a tough opening stretch featuring several divisional rivalry games. The bad news is that they may have a tough choice late in the season should Kamara’s case wrap up in, say, December with the NFL issuing a multi-game suspension. Would it be better to serve the punishment with his team in the playoffs hunt or wait and hit the bench to start 2023? Thankfully that’s a question for another day, and if things go his way Kamara won’t have to ponder it at all.

Still, it’s a mess that could have been avoided by not putting paws on someone in the first place. Let’s hope he’s learned his lesson and will avoid situations like this in the future.

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Deshaun Watson suspended 6 games, will play vs. Saints in Week 16

Barring a longer suspension from the NFL, Browns QB Deshaun Watson will face the Saints in Week 16 after sitting out the first six games:

This isn’t too surprising, but it is disappointing. Cleveland Browns quarterback Deshaun Watson will miss his team’s first six games this year, but not their late-season matchup with the New Orleans Saints. An independent arbitrator, Judge Sue Robinson, recommended Watson be suspended the first six games of the 2022 season — barring an appeal from the NFL, in which case league commissioner Roger Goodell (or his designee) could issue a longer suspension. Watson’s representatives and the NFL Players Association have both previously said they will not challenge Judge Robinson’s ruling, so Goodell has three days to decide the next step. For now, we’ll assume Watson serves the six-game suspension.

So this has several impacts for the Saints. The most pressing matter is that Watson, a player the Saints put a ton of effort into recruiting for themselves, will be suiting up against them when they visit the Browns at FirstEnergy Stadium in Week 16; that’s going to be a chilly and possibly snowy game on Dec. 24, Christmas Eve.

Dennis Allen wouldn’t have steered the Saints towards pursuing Watson so strongly if he didn’t appreciate the challenge in stopping such a talented quarterback. Unless Goodell overrules the initial suspension in favor of a yearlong punishment, Watson will be leading Cleveland’s offense against Allen’s defense. He’s only faced the Saints once before, taking six sacks in a too-close 30-28 loss won with a late Wil Lutz field goal from 58 yards out. It’ll be tough.

As for the other way this Watson suspension matters to Saints fans: it’s probably not going to set much precedence for Alvin Kamara’s situation, awful as the optics may be. Judge Robinson decided that while Watson’s “pattern of behavior was egregious,” per NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero, it also constituted “nonviolent sexual conduct.”

That first descriptor is the key here. Watson’s behavior is seen as a violation of the NFL’s personal conduct policy, but it’s seen as “nonviolent” (personally, I disagree; all sexual abuse is inherently violent). Kamara’s behavior is different. He’s identified himself and his friends on video beating and stomping out a man. That’s going to be viewed as a “violent” policy violation and be punished accordingly. So a six-game suspension for Kamara is very much still on the table, even if Watson has faced dozens of accusations against Kamara’s one. There’s the tone-deaf NFL for you.

However, what isn’t clear is when (or if) Kamara will be suspended at all. The league is notoriously inconsistent when it comes to these suspensions, but they do have a precedent of waiting for the legal process to play out before handing down discipline. Kamara’s attorneys requested a 60-day status check in court on Monday, per 8 News Now’s David Charns, which would push the next court date past the start of the regular season. And there’s no guarantee a legal decision will come down at that time. This could very well drag on past the 2022 season and into next offseason, as has happened with Marcus Maye’s Feb. 2021 DUI charge in Florida (which has its own still-pending legal resolution).

To recap: Watson is likely to suit up against the Saints in Week 16, and his suspension is unlikely to impact any discipline for Kamara despite how bad it looks. It isn’t fair or just, but don’t go looking to the NFL for justice here. They’re content to let the legal system take the heat before quietly brushing over things on their own end to get back to selling tickets and cutting promos. With most of Watson’s cases settled out of court and little left to be litigated in front of judges or juries, they’ll be ready to move on and refocus on their bottom line. The same is true for the Saints and Kamara.

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6 teams the Saints could call about trading for help at running back

The Bills, Browns, and Dolphins are among 6 teams that run deep at running back who the Saints could call up about cutting a trade:

What will the New Orleans Saints do at running back? It’s one position they weren’t able to really address this offseason, with the only new addition being undrafted rookie Abram Smith out of Baylor – who joins a lineup behind Alvin Kamara featuring a late-career Mark Ingram, career special teams player Dwayne Washington, and NFL journeymen Tony Jones Jr. and Devine Ozigbo. The non-Kamara players there combined for just 418 rushing yards in 2021, so yeah, there’s room for improvement. Especially if Kamara is suspended for multiple games following an arrest in Las Vegas early this year.

But where could the Saints turn to find help? Proven, NFL-quality help? With free agency and the draft behind them, their best bet is to work a trade with another team. And Nola.com’s Jeff Duncan reports that they’ve done just that in reaching out to a number of teams to gauge interest in cutting a deal. No new arrivals to New Orleans are expected at this time, but as training camps kick off around the league and teams get a better idea of the state of their depth charts, some dominoes will start to fall.

Duncan suggested six teams as potential trade partners with the Saints, given their depth at the position, so we took a deeper look to see which players could be a plausible match with New Orleans. We’ll worry about the specifics of various trade packages and positional value another day. For now, here are our thoughts on each of those teams and their players under contract:

10 things we learned about the Saints this offseason

It’s been an eventful offseason for the New Orleans Saints. Here are ten things we’ve learned about the team ahead of training camp, via @RossJacksonNOLA:

With OTAs and mandatory minicamp in the rearview mirror, the New Orleans Saints will enjoy a break before rookies report for training camp on July 19. It’s been an eventful offseason that included several major storylines around Sean Payton, Deshaun Watson, LSU Tigers homecomings, and much more.

All revolving around what should be an impactful draft class and a rejuvenated passing game. From the returns from injuries for Jameis Winston, Michael Thomas, and Wil Lutz to the departures of heavyweight free agents Marcus Williams and Terron Armstead, the Saints have undergone a good amount of change this offseason.

Through that change, we learned a lot of valuable things about the organization, the roster, and coaching staff that will be worth keeping an eye on throughout training camp as it begins in July. Here are ten things we learned about the New Orleans Saints this offseason: