A new filing in Jonathan Vilma’s defamation suit against Roger Goodell has an interesting nugget about Sean Peyton – that he needed police protection from former Saints assistant Mike Cerullo, who had reportedly sought revenge against the organization for his firing.

What the hell is going on with the suspended Saints head coach? A disturbing image, after the jump.

What is suspended Saints head coach and soon-to-be-bachelor Sean Payton doing in the Bahamas? According to gossip rag of note TMZ, he’s “bumping and grinding his pain away” with a “hot blonde.” Although, to us, it looks less “bumping and grindish,” more, “Sean Payton is going through a very public mid-life crisis and, dear God, is on a Bahamas dance floor trying to move to ‘Cashin’ Out.’” Video, after the jump.

According to a petition filed in Tarrant County, Texas on June 14th, Saints head coach Sean Payton is seeking a divorce from his wife, Beth. Their 20-year anniversary was to be July 11th. More, after the jump.

Some major evidence in the New Orleans Saints bounty scandal may come down one fundamental value: How serious is the email?

Sean Payton is appealing his season-long suspension from coaching the Saints. Payton will lose that appeal. But he doesn’t need to worry: he might not have the support of Roger Goodell, but he sure has the backing of Jimmy Buffett.

During an interview with NFL security earlier this year, Sean Payton denied any knowledge of the Saints’ bounty program. It was at that point, according to the NFL’s report, that they showed him an e-mail that he sent from 2011. It was also, at that point, that Sean Payton probably knew he was fucked. More, after the jump.

Tim Tebow stuff was happening before, so you might have been distracted by a different NFL story that, if it actually came to fruition, would be way crazier.

On the periphery of the Saints bounty scandal, and the severe punishments the NFL handed down for said scandal yesterday, is another controversy: who was the whistle-blower who initiated the NFL’s investigation into the Saints to begin with?

The NFL wanted to make a statement with how it responded to the Saints’ bounty controversy. It needed to at least create the impression that it values player safety. It needed to show that it could come down as hard on coaches and executives as it does on wayward players. Well, today, the league’s punishments were revealed. And boy, did it come down hard.

And boy, did it pick the worst time possible to dominate news coverage.