Saints go with Vitt

DAILY NEWS WIRE REPORTS
Posted: April 13, 2012

THE NEW ORLEANS Saints have named Joe Vitt as interim coach, despite the top assistant's six-game suspension for his role in the club's bounty system. The Saints had to find a one-season replacement for head coach Sean Payton, whose seasonlong suspension in connection with the bounty scandal begins Monday and runs through next February's Super Bowl.

New Orleans GM Mickey Loomis said Vitt will take over on Monday. "It is important that we keep Sean Payton's philosophy front and center during this season," Loomis said Thursday. "Sean has been the driving force behind the tremendous success our team has enjoyed during the past 6 years, his leadership will be missed. But we need to set a course of action that gives us the best chance to win this season without our head coach."

Vitt will be able to oversee the offseason training program and training camp, before stepping aside to serve his suspension.

In other NFL news:

 * The Bengals traded linebacker Keith Rivers to the Giants for a fifth-round pick, ending his 4-year stay in Cincinnati marred by injuries. He missed all of last season recovering from surgery on his right wrist. Also, the Bengals agreed to a deal with cornerback Terence Newman, an unrestricted free agent from Dallas.

* The NFL will allow teams to accept advertisements for casinos and other state-licensed gambling-related establishments during the next two seasons. Those ads can appear only in game programs, on local radio broadcasts and in the upper bowl and inner concourses of stadiums.

Olympics * 

Penn State wrestling coach Cael Sanderson has decided against competing in next week's Olympic Team Trials and will not chase another gold medal. Sanderson came out of retirement last year, 7 years after winning gold at the Athens Olympics.

Philly File * 

Archbishop Carroll wing guard Alec Stavetski will play his college hoops at Muhlenberg.

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