NFL notebook: Payton agrees to return to coach Saints

Associated Press The New Orleans Saints and suspended coach Sean Payton will indeed be together again next season as the bounty scandal fades into history and the bid to win a second Super Bowl resumes. Payton agreed in principle to a multiyear contract extension, the team said. “Very happy it is official,” quarterback Drew Brees said in an email to the AP. “Never had any doubts.” Payton was due to begin his seventh season as the Saints’ head coach in 2012 before being suspended for the whole season by NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell in connection with the NFL’s bounty investigation. “I am pleased that Sean Payton will be our head coach for a long time,” owner Tom Benson said in a statement. “Now we can focus our attention on building on the winning tradition with the Saints that Sean has played such a large role in.” Payton signed an extension in 2011 worth more than $6 million a year that would have kept him in New Orleans through 2015, but Goodell objected to certain language in that deal, leaving Payton’s future uncertain until the deal was reached Friday. The language in question in the previous extension gave Payton the right to opt out early if General Manager Mickey Loomis left the club for any reason. The new agreement also must be approved by the NFL. The team did not disclose the length of the extension or financial terms. Payton is the only coach in Saints history to win a Super Bowl, a title earned at the end of the 2009 season. But his legacy was tarnished by the NFL’s bounty probe, as Goodell ruled that Payton failed to exert proper institutional control over a cash-for-hits bounty program run by ex-defensive coordinator Gregg Williams from 2009-11. Although the Saints objected to the characterization of what coaches and players have said was nothing more than a performance pool for big plays, Goodell suspended Payton for the entire season. The commissioner also suspended Loomis for half of the season and assistant head coach Joe Vitt for six games. Payton is 62-34 in regular-season games as Saints coach and 5-3 in the postseason.

NFL notebook: Payton agrees to return to coach Saints December 30,2012 02:33 AM GMT Associated Press Copyright � 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,broadcast, rewritten or redistributed..

Around the league

The New England Patriots activated defensive lineman Jermaine Cunningham to the 53-man roster and signed wide receiver Kamar Aiken and defensive back Malcolm Williams from the practice squad. The team also released defensive lineman Ron Brace. … The Kansas City Chiefs put wide receiver Terrance Copper on injured reserve and elevated wide receiver Junior Hemingway from the practice squad for today’s game at Denver. … The Detroit Lions put defensive tackle Sammie Hill on injured reserve because of a foot injury and signed defensive lineman Jimmy Saddler-McQueen off the practice squad.

Ex-Steelers lineman dies

Former Pittsburgh Steelers center and coach Chuck Cherundolo has died in Florida at the age of 96.

His daughter, Pat Cherundolo, said Saturday that the former Steelers player died of heart failure on Dec. 22 in Lakeland. Cherundolo played for the Steelers in the 1940s, taking a break to serve in the Navy during World War II.

In 2007, the Steelers named him to their legends team, representing the franchise’s best players through 1970.

Cherundolo was born in Old Forge, Pa. He played football at Penn State University before beginning his professional career with the Cleveland Rams. He played for the Philadelphia Eagles for one season before joining the Steelers. Cherundolo also coached in the NFL, including many years with the Steelers.