Sean Payton

Sean Payton's season-long suspension for his role in the New Orleans Saints' bounty program was lifted by NFL commissioner Roger Goodell on Tuesday, nearly two weeks earlier than expected. The decision allows Payton to attend the Senior Bowl in Mobile, Ala., on Saturday, where some of the top college players available for the NFL draft will be competing. Payton, along with assistant head coach Joe Vitt, general manager Mickey Loomis, and four players including Jonathan Vilma, was suspended after an investigation found the club had a performance pool offering cash rewards for key plays, including big hits.

New Orleans Saints coach Sean Payton returned to work Wednesday following a nearly yearlong suspension for his role in the team's bounty program. "We're at a point where it's time for closure. It's time for us as a team, it's time for us as a league, to take this next step forward," Payton said. Goodell lifted Payton's suspension Tuesday, nearly two weeks earlier than expected. Payton said he has not spoken to former defensive coordinator Gregg Williams, who remains suspended indefinitely, and "I have no interest in talking to Gregg.

MOBILE, Ala.—New Orleans Saints coach Sean Payton kept using the word "closure" during an extraordinary, 45-minute news conference Wednesday morning following the North team practice at the Senior Bowl. But the size of the media throng around Payton, as he spoke for the first time since NFL commissioner Roger Goodell lifted Payton's 1-year suspension Tuesday in the "Bountygate" case, was maybe the first clue that putting the scandal in the past isn't going to be easy or simple.

BILL PARCELLS confirmed Wednesday that he will not come out of retirement to coach the New Orleans Saints next season. "I've been out quite a while now. I have another life. I'm very happy with that," Parcells told ESPN. Parcells said he talked to suspended coach Sean Payton and general manager Mickey Loomis about the Saints' interim opening, but "it's time" to stay retired. Payton has been suspended for a year for his role in the Saints' bounty program from 2009-2011.

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.

The New Orleans Saints have named Joe Vitt 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 season-long suspension in connection with the bounty scandal begins Monday and runs through next February's Super Bowl. "It is important that we keep Sean Payton's philosophy front and center during this season," New Orleans general manager Mickey Loomis said in a release Thursday.

SO IF JEFFREY Lurie crafts a help-wanted ad based on some of the successful recent coaches, it might look a little like this: Wanted: Head coach for highly successful yet frustrated franchise. Candidate must be highly motivated and a background in offense is preferred but not mandatory. Candidate should be in his mid-40s and come from another NFL team. The Daily News looked at the 13 coaches to lead their teams to conference championship games since the 2008 season, the last time Andy Reid and the Eagles advanced that far, and came up with a number of nuggets: * Eight of the 13 had backgrounds in offense.

NEW ORLEANS - Bill Parcells is unlikely to become the New Orleans Saints' interim coach, according to multiple reports. Parcells prefers to remain retired and not replace his protege Sean Payton, who will serve a season-long suspension for his role in New Orleans' bounty system, the reports said. On Tuesday, Saints spokesman Greg Bensel said the team "has nothing to report" concerning the search for an interim coach. Parcells' agent, Jimmy Sexton, also declined comment.

  Line: Saints by 6 The skinny: New Orleans appears to have the upper hand against San Francisco. The Saints already are clicking, and they've won the last five matchups with the Niners, who will try to get back on track following a dismal 31-6 season-opening loss at Seattle and a week of questions about their offense. Quarterback Alex Smith had problems getting the plays into his ear on time before the headset cut off with 15 seconds on the play clock. The Niners didn't score a touchdown against Seattle and couldn't score at all in the second half.

MOBILE, Ala.—New Orleans Saints coach Sean Payton kept using the word "closure" during an extraordinary, 45-minute news conference Wednesday morning following the North team practice at the Senior Bowl. But the size of the media throng around Payton, as he spoke for the first time since NFL commissioner Roger Goodell lifted Payton's 1-year suspension Tuesday in the "Bountygate" case, was maybe the first clue that putting the scandal in the past isn't going to be easy or simple.

New Orleans Saints coach Sean Payton returned to work Wednesday following a nearly yearlong suspension for his role in the team's bounty program. "We're at a point where it's time for closure. It's time for us as a team, it's time for us as a league, to take this next step forward," Payton said. Goodell lifted Payton's suspension Tuesday, nearly two weeks earlier than expected. Payton said he has not spoken to former defensive coordinator Gregg Williams, who remains suspended indefinitely, and "I have no interest in talking to Gregg.

Sean Payton's season-long suspension for his role in the New Orleans Saints' bounty program was lifted by NFL commissioner Roger Goodell on Tuesday, nearly two weeks earlier than expected. The decision allows Payton to attend the Senior Bowl in Mobile, Ala., on Saturday, where some of the top college players available for the NFL draft will be competing. Payton, along with assistant head coach Joe Vitt, general manager Mickey Loomis, and four players including Jonathan Vilma, was suspended after an investigation found the club had a performance pool offering cash rewards for key plays, including big hits.

Robert Griffin III underwent reconstructive knee surgery Wednesday and faces a challenging rehab if he is to return for the start of next season. The Washington Redskins quarterback had his lateral collateral ligament repaired and his anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee reconstructed for a second time. The surgery was performed in Florida by orthopedist James Andrews, who was optimistic that Griffin would be back on the field this fall. "We expect a full recovery, and it is everybody's hope and belief that due to Robert's high motivation, he will be ready for the 2013 season," Andrews said in a statement released by the Redskins.

SO IF JEFFREY Lurie crafts a help-wanted ad based on some of the successful recent coaches, it might look a little like this: Wanted: Head coach for highly successful yet frustrated franchise. Candidate must be highly motivated and a background in offense is preferred but not mandatory. Candidate should be in his mid-40s and come from another NFL team. The Daily News looked at the 13 coaches to lead their teams to conference championship games since the 2008 season, the last time Andy Reid and the Eagles advanced that far, and came up with a number of nuggets: * Eight of the 13 had backgrounds in offense.

Mike Shanahan's players are supporting their coach after he seemingly wrote off the Washington Redskins' season and then said his comments had been misinterpreted. "I thought he clarified exactly what he meant, how it wasn't portrayed the way it needed to be," said cocaptain London Fletcher, a 15-year veteran. "He let us know exactly how he feels about this season, how he feels about the guys in this locker room. Coach Shanahan's a proven winner, a two-time Super Bowl-winning head coach.

METAIRIE, La. - As unsettling as the Eagles' season has been in Philadelphia, there's similar bewilderment in New Orleans about how a team with high expectations has struggled through the first half of the season. The Saints enter Monday night's game against the 3-4 Eagles with a 2-5 record, meaning two teams that started with postseason expectations and Super Bowl aspirations could possibly be floundering toward irrelevance in the season's second half. What appeared to be a marquee game is now a matchup of teams that badly need a victory just to stay competitive.

This story has been corrected. Monday's editions of the Daily News erroneously stated that Carl Nicks signed with San Francisco last offseason. He signed with Tampa Bay. NEW ORLEANS - When he thinks about it now, Saints guard Jahri Evans doesn't wonder what could have been. With one decision 6 years ago, the Eagles launched the Frankford High product on the ride of a lifetime. Rewind to April 30, 2006 - the second day of the NFL draft. New Orleans held the second pick of the fourth round, the first round that day. Anxiously waiting in his agent Jerrold Colton's office in Voorhees, N.J., the Evans contingent received word that the Saints were likely to nab him with that pick.

NEW ORLEANS - All that stands between the Eagles and the end of their three-game losing streak is a six-time Pro Bowl quarterback who last season threw for more yards (5,476) than anyone in the history of the NFL. "You have a guy who makes quick decisions, and most of the time, they're the right decisions. That makes it tough, playing against him," Eagles middle linebacker DeMeco Ryans said the other day, talking about New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees. Brees is why the Saints, 13-3 a year ago, remain dangerous, even in the wake of the Bountygate chaos, even while their defense threatens to set a league record for yardage allowed.