If Parcells coaches Saints, Goodell OK with it

Roger Goodell has yet to hear Sean Payton's appeal of his one-year suspension as coach of the Saints, but that hasn't stopped the NFL's commissioner from weighing in on one of Payton's possible replacements.

Bill Parcells as the interim coach in New Orleans in 2012? Goodell said he would not stand in the way of that and even said it would be good for the league.

"That's their decision," Goodell said Monday at the opening of an NFL store in Manhattan. "Bill's a great coach and I'm sure will add a lot of personality and intrigue. And he's as competitive as they get, so I'm sure he'll do a good job."

Last week, Parcells told Newsday he might return to coaching if Payton asked him to do so. Payton, Saints general manager Mickey Loomis and assistant coach Joe Vitt were suspended by Goodell last month for their role in a bounty program in which players were paid for debilitating hits on opponents. Goodell was expected to hear their appeal of the suspensions Tuesday, but that meeting was pushed back to later in the week.

Goodell also is expected to punish from 22 to 27 players for their participation in the bounty program. He met with NFLPA officials Monday to discuss the investigation.

"Our duty is to view and understand the evidence and to ensure it is substantiated and concrete," NFLPA executive director DeMaurice Smith said in a statement. "We also have an obligation to ensure that our players have fair due process. It is not our duty to give recommendations for discipline in a vacuum without information or without consultation with our players. It seems as if this entire matter has played out primarily in public, with regard for the fairness of the process an afterthought."