Report: NFL, ex-Saints coach to meet over bounties

Former Saints defensive coordinator Gregg Williams is expected to meet with NFL officials Monday to further discuss his role in a bounty program from 2009-11 in which defensive players were paid for knocking opponents out of games.

NFL spokesman Greg Aiello said the league will address the situation "as part of our responsibility to protect player safety and the integrity of the game." He declined to comment on an ESPN report that said Williams, now the Rams' defensive coordinator, will meet with the league today.

Aiello said the NFL will look at any information that is relevant to the case, although he declined to comment on reports over the weekend that said Williams had used bounty systems when he was defensive coordinator of the Redskins from 2004-07 and head coach of the Bills from 2001-03.

The league has said it will issue penalties to the team and individuals involved that could include fines, suspensions and the removal of draft picks.

The league announced Friday that it had determined after a months-long investigation that Williams and as many as 27 Saints players had contributed to a bounty system during the 2009-11 seasons. The investigation, conducted by the league's security department, found the bounty system rewarded defensive players for inflicting injuries on opponents that forced them out of games.

The players regularly contributed money into a pool and received payments based on their performance from the previous week's game, according to the league's investigation. Payments were made for interceptions and fumble recoveries, but also included payments for "cart-offs," in which a player was carried off the field, and "knockouts," in which players couldn't return to the game. Among the targets were quarterbacks Brett Favre of the Vikings and Kurt Warner of the Cardinals during the playoffs in January 2010. The Saints won the Super Bowl that season.

The league has a longstanding rule prohibiting "non-contract bonuses." Non-contract bonuses violate both the NFL constitution and bylaws and the collective-bargaining agreement. Clubs are advised every year of this rule in a memo from the commissioner. The memo for the 2011 season stated:

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"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 (for example, personal fouls to or injuries inflicted on opposing players)."