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The 32 crew understands Drew Brees' frustration with Saints ownership, Benjamin Watson answers questions from Facebook, and Mark Schlereth gives his opinion on Ray Edwards' calendar spread.

Adam Schefter and Wendi Nix revisit the Carson Palmer trade; Russell Wilson could start for the Seattle Seahawks; and some bold words from New Orleans Saints rookie Corey White.

Mort sees big things for the Chiefs this year, Cris Carter elaborates on his bounty comments, and the 32 Crew has some advice for Adrian Peterson when he returns from knee surgery.

Not that they were worried about it, but the Denver Broncos can breathe easy -- Tracy Porter will not pay any price for the New Orleans Saints’ bounty scandal.

The NFL suspended four players for their participation in the Saints’ bounty program. Porter was not one of the four players, and the league has indicated no other players will be suspended. Porter, a starting right cornerback who has played his four-year career with the Saints, signed with Denver in March.

His name never publicly came up in any of the bounty talk. However, as a staring defender on the team, there was always a chance the NFL could investigate him. The Broncos were confident Porter didn’t have any involvement in the scandal.

When he signed with Denver, Porter said: “It’s something that the league felt they had evidence on. The thing that I will say about it is that the whole label of bounties is absurd. There was definitely no bounty on any player out there in the game. We were just playing football.”

The big news today in the NFL is, once again, out of New Orleans, where two current Saints defensive players and two former ones have been suspended for their alleged role in the Saints' bounty programs. Saints linebacker Jonathan Vilma has been suspended for the entire season and defensive lineman Will Smith has been suspended for the first four games. Former Saints defensive lineman Anthony Hargrove, who was in camp with the Philadelphia Eagles last year and is now with the Packers, is suspended for eight games, and former Saints linebacker Scott Fujita (now with the Browns) is suspended for three.

This all assumes that these suspensions hold up, and we have yet to hear from the NFLPA, which has been arguing for weeks that the league had insufficient evidence to support claims that the players were complicit in administering the bounty programs or that they acted on bounty offers during the games in question. But assuming Vilma and Smith are suspended at all, that's a nice little break for the Washington Redskins and rookie quarterback Robert Griffin III, who are scheduled to open the 2012 regular season against the Saints in New Orleans on Sept. 9. While a road game in New Orleans remains a difficult challenge for anyone, especially a rookie quarterback, the Saints' defense obviously becomes somewhat less fearsome if Vilma and Smith aren't on the field.

The other three teams in the NFC East also play the Saints this year, though all are scheduled to do so after Smith's suspension expires. The Eagles open their season Sept. 9 in Cleveland against the Browns, who will be without Fujita if his suspension is upheld.

Chris Mortensen on John Harbaugh's Spygate comments; Gary Horton talks about how the San Francisco 49ers added speed to their offense; and in "Did You Hear That?" Tedy Bruschi remembers his first day of rookie minicamp.

The 32 crew examines the latest Saints scandal, Hugh Douglas remembers his playing days with Brian Dawkins, and Mel and Todd on which quarterback would be a slam dunk in Cleveland.

Bounties are a very sensitive subject in the NFL. Pretty much the mention of the word from any pro football player is sure to capture headlines.

That was the case with Kansas City Chiefs safety Eric Berry. He injured his knee in Week 1 and was lost for the season against the Buffalo Bills when receiver Steve Johnson blocked him low. The block was deemed legal and didn't draw a flag.

But following the discovery of the New Orleans Saints' bounty scandal, Berry recently tweeted "Sometimes I sit [and] wonder if they had a bounty out on me ... oh well ... who cares. Either way [you] can't hold me down."

Berry this week was asked about the tweet by reporters.

"They got the tape out there, you can make your own opinion," Berry said. "I mean, my opinion is my opinion. People are going to take it how they want to take it anyway."

Regardless of Berry's stance, he needs to be more careful with bounty talk. He shouldn't make public accusations against Johnson or any player unless he's absolutely sure. For example, the NFL did a thorough investigation into the Saints that took years to uncover.

Johnson is not known to be a dirty player and denied the hit was intentional in the past. Hopefully, Berry isn't setting a new and dangerous precedent, where every NFL player who suffers a significant injury will publicly accuse an opponent of trying to collect a bounty.

Drew Brees and the Saints aren't getting any closer to a deal, Rams running back Steven Jackson answers your Facebook questions, and Mel and Todd look for a value quarterback in the draft.

Suzy Kolber and Chris Mortensen look at the New Orleans Saints' best coaching options, Merril Hoge picks the new top team in the NFC South, and Mel Kiper Jr. grades Herm Edwards' on his NFL draft history.

Darren Woodson and Tedy Bruschi recently discussed whether Gregg Williams' indefinite suspension from the NFL should become a lifetime ban.

Just about everyone should get a second chance, Woodson said, and Bruschi largely agreed.

Whether Williams deserves a second chance and whether he will get one are separate issues.

The NFL, faced with hundreds of player-safety lawsuits, has much invested in making an example out of Williams and the New Orleans Saints for their bounty-related violations. Fair or not, the league gains more legally and politically from a lifetime ban than from welcoming back the person most directly associated with bounties.

A recently released audio recording brought to life the allegations in a manner that further damaged Williams. After hearing the recording, I doubted whether Williams, now the St. Louis Rams' defensive coordinator, would ever coach again in the NFL.

But the backlash against Williams could fade over time. Woodson and Bruschi sounded amenable to the NFL clearing Williams following the 2012 season.

The evidence against Gregg Williams continues to mount, renewing questions about whether the indefinitely suspended defensive coordinator can credibly resume his career in the NFL.

The latest revelations -- profanity-laced recorded comments Williams made to New Orleans Saints players before their playoff game at San Francisco -- are chilling in their specificity. Time and again, Williams encouraged players to injure specific opponents, from Michael Crabtree to Frank Gore to Alex Smith to Kyle Williams.

Given these recordings, it's for the best that Williams, now with the St. Louis Rams, declined to appeal his suspension relating to the Saints' bounty scandal. There can be no defending what he said.

Pro Football Talk has transcribed some of the comments. Yahoo! Sports' Mike Silver also has a column on the matter. I listened to the comments and transcribed them for this item.

"Every single one of you, before you get off the pile, affect the head," Williams told Saints players one day before the 49ers defeated New Orleans in the wild-card round. "Early, affect the head. Continue, touch and hit the head."

There was more. Much more.

"We need to find out in the first two series of the game, the little wide receiver, No. 10, about his concussion," Williams said, referring to Kyle Williams. "We need to [expletive] put a lick on him right now."

Williams also indicated the Saints should take out Crabtree's knee.

"We need to decide whether Crabtree wants to be a fake ass prima donna or he wants to be a tough guy," Williams told players. "We need to find it out. He becomes human when we [expletive] take out that outside ACL."

On and on it went.

Williams encouraged players to hit Smith under the chin, referring back to the "big eyes" Smith got when the Saints hit him repeatedly during the exhibition opener. He wanted the Saints to take out all the 49ers' key players, noting repeatedly that his team should not apologize for how it plays the game.

"We need to decide on how many times we can beat Frank Gore's head," Williams said.

Williams allegedly punctuated some of his comments with a hand gesture indicating he would pay cash for injuring the 49ers. These are damning tapes further cementing Williams' reputation for crossing the line.

Looks like we'll have even more than anticipated to discuss on the blog Thursday.

Elsewhere in the division ...

Cam Inman of the San Jose Mercury News offers thoughts on the 49ers not facing the Raiders in the preseason.

Matt Barrows of the Sacramento Bee says Reggie Smith's departure from the 49ers in free agency further guts what remains of the team's 2008 draft class. Barrows: "According to a source, Smith, an unrestricted free agent, told the 49ers in his exit interview in January that he was not interested in returning to the team, presumably because he knew his chances of starting were slim with Dashon Goldson on the roster. The 49ers made Goldson their franchise player, although he has yet to sign the tender. The top three safeties for 2012 appear to be Goldson, strong safety Donte Whitner and C.J. Spillman. Madieu Williams, who also is a free agent, could return."

Taylor Price of 49ers.com says players are working out informally at team headquarters in advance of the voluntary offseason workout program.

Howard Balzer of 101ESPN St. Louis quotes new Rams cornerback Cortland Finnegan saying he wanted to play for Williams. Finnegan: "Every player you talk to says what a great coach he is. I was so excited to have a chance to play for him. He has a great defense and players love playing in that defense."

Jim Thomas of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch says recently retired former Rams receiver Torry Holt downplayed talk about the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Holt: "Shoot, we've got to get Cris Carter in the Hall, we have to get Andre Reed in the Hall, we've got to get Tim Brown in the Hall before we even start mentioning anything about Torry Holt being in the Hall."

Also from Thomas: notes from Holt's retirement news conference. Holt on whether signing a one-day contract would let him suit up: "I was speaking to Carla, my wife, and said, 'You know what? It would probably be cool if I called (equipment manager) Jimmy Lake and I had him set up my locker and get my cleats, and get my gloves, get my baggy shorts, and let me run one more deep seven (route). Shoot it out of the JUGS machine and I could catch it for a touchdown.' ... You know what? That'd be too much. Let's act like an adult here, I guess."

More from Thomas: The Rams have interest in free agent receiver Jerome Simpson.

Eric D. Williams of the Tacoma News Tribune makes available draft analyst Rob Rang for a discussion focusing mostly on the Seahawks. Rang: "I believe Coby Fleener is going to wind up as a top 20 pick. There are few teams with obvious needs at TE to warrant such a pick, but coming off a 2011 season in which Gronk, Graham, etc. demonstrated just how effective these matchup nightmares can be, I believe some team is going to shock everyone. That team could be Seattle. If you're going to build a team around a relatively weak-armed QB, he'd damn well better have some weapons."

Brock Huard of 710ESPN Seattle explains why he thinks the Seahawks' were true to form in letting David Hawthorne sign with New Orleans.

Aaron Wilson of the Carroll County Times says the Seahawks met with Patriots free agent defensive back Antwaun Molden.

Kent Somers of the Arizona Republic has this to say about the Cardinals' preseason schedule: "It will be the eighth time in the past nine seasons that the Cardinals have played the Broncos in the final preseason game."

Also from Somers: Levi Brown re-signed with the Cardinals shortly after the team visited with free-agent tackle Demetress Bell. Somers: "Coincidence? Maybe. The Cardinals paid Brown a $7 million signing bonus. Earlier in free agency they signed guard/tackle Adam Snyder to a five-year deal that included a $5 million signing bonus. The Cardinals remained interested in Bell, but it was questionable if they were going to write another big check for an offensive lineman."

More from Somers: The Cardinals have their key specialists under contract.

Darren Urban of azcardinals.com looks at options for Arizona on the offensive line. He quotes line coach Russ Grimm on Adam Snyder: "He was tops on our free agent list as far as offensive line was concerned. He’s a big physical guy, he's smart, he has played a number of positions. Right now we have him penciled in at right guard but if we have to move it around before camp we’ll move it around."

Wendi and Herm discuss Sean Payton's appeal to the commissioner, Brandon Carr answers a Facebook question, and the Eagles are struck by the injury bug.

Kendall Reyes makes a promise to his future NFL team, Herm discusses how the Saints can work around the Rooney Rule and the 32 crew talks about Ryan Tannehill rookie-season prospects.

Suzy Kolber and Damien Woody discuss if Bill Parcells is the New Orleans Saints' best option, whether Tim Tebow and Mark Sanchez can co-exist, and Alabama's Dre Kirkpatrick argues why he's the No. 1 cornerback in April's draft.