New Orleans Saints Jonathan Vilma’s battle with Roger Goodell coming to a nasty close

The ongoing battle between New Orleans Saints linebacker Jonathan Vilma and NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell is coming to a peak that rivals any high noon showdown.

I reference the term showdown because it seems that Vilma is preparing to make his last stand in a legal battle that has raged ever since his name was mentioned in the bounty investigation.

It would appear that his legal options are running dry or more accurately, his last winnable one anyway with his defamation suit against Goodell.  Winnable because it’s not dealing with Goodell holding all the cards.

The appeal that Vilma filed was dead on the vine all along since the collective bargaining agreement(CBA) allowed Goodell to not only issue punishments to players, but also hear their appeal to those punishments.

Goodell has relented in some cases, but everyone knew where Vilma’s was headed.  While this in all aspects isn’t really a fair process for NFL players, it’s what they allowed the NFL when the new CBA was signed close to a year ago.

While attorney’s for Goodell have stated that Vilma is not allowed to sue because it states such in the new CBA, Vilma’s attorney Peter Ginsberg took a sly shot at the NFL.