Saints QB Drew Brees: Coaches won't fight bounty scandal punishments out of fear of further sanctions

New Orleans Saints star Drew Brees said the team's coaches are afraid to fight their punishments over the bounty scandal. (Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images)

New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees said Tuesday on the Dan Patrick Show that the New Orleans Saints coaches are not fighting their punishments from the alleged bounty scandal because they are worried about further penalties.

"I have pretty good knowledge and feel like I’ve been informed that a lot of those coaches feel like there are further sanctions being held above their heads if they don’t ‘cooperate’ with the investigation," Brees told Patrick. "And so even though punishment’s already been levied on the coaches ... there are further sanctions possible if they do not cooperate. I believe if they were to speak out on behalf of the players that maybe that’s the fear they have, that that’s being held over their heads."

Saints head coach Sean Payton was suspended for the season, and interim head coach Joe Vitt was suspended six games for their alleged involvement in the scheme. Former defensive coordinator Gregg Williams, now with the St. Louis Rams, was suspended indefinitely.

Brees also disputed that the NFL's evidence supported its contention that the Saints offered money for injuring other players.

"I really to this point have not seen any hard evidence, any truths, that shows these guys were contributing money or accepting money or what have you for a pay-to-injure scheme," Brees said. "I think pay-for-performance has been lumped together with pay-to-injure in this whole thing. "The facts and evidence, everything has been twisted or fabricated. It just seems that this entire NFL investigation has been geared toward a pre-determined conclusion that they want to reach for whatever reason, as opposed to just going out and trying to identify the facts. I think the facts that have been presented so far don’t show any proof that there was a pay-to-injure scheme going on."