Can Bill Parcells Save the Saints?

NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell made his message heard loud and clear last week when he handed down heavy suspensions to Saints Head Coach Sean Peyton, GM Mickey Loomis, Assistant Coach Joe Vitt and former Defensive Coordinator Greg Williams. Those suspensions left the Saints organization in disarray and looking for answers anywhere they could find them. Head Coach Sean Peyton is allowed contact with the team until Midnight on Sunday, and rumor has it he's calling on an old pal to help him out. Peyton attended the NFL owners' meetings this week in Palm Beach, Florida and has reportedly reached to none other Bill Parcells to keep his seat warm for him during the 2012-2013 season.

Parcells and Peyton worked side by side in Dallas for three seasons and have maintained a good relationship ever since. Truth be told, the fashion in which the Saints were built isn't so different from the Cowboys these two coached a few years back. If Sean Peyton comes back to his old gig in a year, bringing in a guy like Parcells, who is alright with a one year stint, seems like the only option. Promoting current Defensive Coordinator Steve Spagnuolo or Offensive Coordinator Pete Carmichael to Head Coach for a year would likely result in more turmoil when Peyton returns.

Parcells is a Hall of Famer who does just fine in the limelight. Heck, I think if you ask Parcells, he probably prefers it. And as relevant and competitive as the Saints have been since Hurricane Katrina, Owner Tom Benson isn't going to risk having some kind of catastrophy like BountyGate blow out their flame.

Bringing in Parcells would mean both Carmichael and Spagnuolo can stick to what they know best and maintain a sense of calm around the organization. Besides taking the attention away from the bounty talk and putting it on Parcells, Sean Peyton knows that at 71 years old, Parcells isn't going to hang around too long. If Bill Parcells can lead the Saints back to another Super Bowl, one can only imagine the coverage that would get. And in a league that loves coverage, however they can get it, Commissioner Goodell would be left smiling.

It isn't completely clear yet as to what Sean Peyton has asked Parcells to do, but Parcells did say, “If this guy says to me, ‘Bill, I need you to do this, that’s what friends are supposed to be for.”

Sources: Profootballtalk.com, NFL.com