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NFL .com also quotes a source with the NFL Players Association as saying the four players' suspensions have been overturned.
Folowing the ruling, Saints linebacker Jonathan Vilma tweeted "Victory is mine!"Tulane Sports Law Professor Gabe Feldman posted on his Twitter account that the case would be sent back to the commissioner for a "redetermination of appropriate penalties."
The four players were suspended for their alleged roles in the team's pay-for-performance program, which Goodell labeled a "bounty program."
ESPN's Ed Werder quotes a team source as saying that "Vilma planned to attend Sunday's season opener against the Redskins, but believed he was at least a week or two from being ready to play because of a knee injury."
The three-member arbitration panel last week heard arguments in the NFLPA's appeal of a system arbitrator Stephen Burbank's ruling that Commissioner Roger Goodell had the authority both to punish the players and hear their appeal in the bounty matter.
The union had argued that because actions alleged in the bounty matter happened on the field, the league's labor agreement calls for someone other than the commissioner to hear players' appeals of the commissioner's disciplinary action.
The players have admitted to a pay-for-performance program for big plays such as turnovers and big, clean hits, which also is banned but cannot be punished by suspensions. However, they have denied, some under oath in federal court, that there was a pay-to-injure program.
In addition to the four players suspended, the league also suspended Saints head coach Sean Payton the entire season, Saints general manager Mickey Loomis for half the season, and Saints assistant head coach Joe Vitt for six games. Former Saints defensive coordinator Gregg Williams, who is now with St. Louis and allegedly administered the bounty pool, has been suspended indefinitely.
