Saints At Fault Bounty Program Analysis

Are the New Orleans saints neglectful for participating in a bounty program that has caused many injuries to other National Football League (NFL) players? Allegedly the defensive coordinator was appointed as the mastermind of the program where coaches and players of the New Orleans Saints were at fault for receiving money for allegedly intending to injure other players. Although, the Saints player did admit to playing a pool involving for big hits, they did deny any wrongdoing to intentionally hurt other NFL players. “The original penalty on the players by Roger Goodell, the commissioner has to consider whether any part of his initial penalty was due to violations of the NFL salary cap” (Davidson, Forsythe, 2013). Are the Saints at fault

for breaking the NFL rules to bounty programs and/or exceeding the Salary cap? For this case study, I will discuss the following:
1. What are a bounty program and the NFL policies for bounty programs?
2. What is the salary cap for the NFL and policies regarding the salary cap?
3. Did the Saints break the rules that the NFL has put into place for bounty programs?
4. Did the Saints violate the salary cap?
Bounty Program is a “reward, inducement, or payment, especially one given by a government for acts deemed beneficial” (www.dictionary.com, 2015).

For NFL, such bounty programs are not favored and frowned upon by the NFL. That is because bounties are called non-contract bonuses. These bounty programs are not part of the NFL agreed contract. The Saint allegedly received certain amount monies for certain injuries that they had subjected to opposing teams. “The NFL’s investigation revealed that the pool reached $50,000 or more during the 2009 playoffs, and players were paid $1500 for a “knockout” and $1000 for a “cart-off” with payouts doubling or tripling during the playoffs” (Klemko, 2012). Cart-offs is when the opposing teams is carried off the field. For any business regardless of its nature, it is poor ethics to promote violence or harm on another person for a competitive reason. This can induce a poor reputation for business owners or sports leagues by rewarding associates to harm others. Such behavior portrays bad morals. Moral Minimum Approach states “business’s duty to make a profit and avoid causing harm to others. If it cause harm to others, it has a duty to correct that harm or compensate those who were injured” (Davidson, Forsythe, 2013). After the investigation, the Saints were sued from multiple NFL players who had suffered an injury during the bounty gate scandal. A salary cap “in professional sports is an agreement or rule that places a limit on the

amount of money that a team can spend on players’ salaries. The limit exists as a per-player limit or a total limit for the team’s roster, or both” (Wikipedia, 2015). Louis Bean from the SB Nation explains the Salary cap “ at heart, a way to maintain competitive balance within a sports league by placing an upper limit on how much teams can spend on players” (Bien, 2015). In this article Bien also states “Teams that go over their cap numbers are subject to hefty fines, canceled contracts and/or lost draft picks” (Bien, 2015).
The New Orleans Saints Bounty-gate Scandal investigation found that the Saints were indeed responsible and at fault for having a bounty program. “Non-Contract Bonuses violate both the NFLConstitution and By-Laws and the Collective Bargaining Agreement” (Picayune, 2012). In the 2011 memo that was sent explained the citing sections 9.1(C) (8), and 9.3 (F) and (G) the Constitution and By-Laws. The NFL has a longstanding rule prohibiting "Non-Contract Bonuses. In the 2011 memo it also stated ” "No bonus or award may directly or indirectly be offered, promised, announced, or paid to a player for his or his team's performance against a particular team or opposing player or a particular group thereof. No bonuses or awards may be offered or paid for on-field misconduct” (Picayune, 2012).
Bounty programs in this nature that is not established under the Salary Cap for the NFL does go against an agreement of contracts and regulations that the NFL has put into place.

The Salary cap for the NFL is an agreement/rule that is put into place for a limit of money that the sports league can receive. Because the Saints bounty program violated the NFL constitution they also violated the rules surrounding the Salary cap. The New Orleans Saints lacked the behavior that is desired for the NFL and portrayed bad ethics by Saints ultimate decision makers. When we look at the Utilitarianism negative impacts from a business context it states that it “may result in harm if the organization does not accurately predict the consequences of the act” (Davidson, Forsythe, 2013). It is evident that the coaches and players did not think about the impact it would have on them, or their opposing teams but overall how it can impact all those who are involved directly or indirectly. We can also look into the Game Theory for this investigation if the players truly were not aware of the rules for the bounties that were set in place. If that is the truth, then there is nothing ethically wrong with how the players played in the game. However; knowing the rules and contracts set by the NFL and participating in the pools is still unethical for any business or sports league to

promote.