Brees, Fujita, meet with NFL on bounties

NEW YORK — Saints quarterback Drew Brees, former New Orleans linebacker Scott Fujita and players union head DeMaurice Smith were at the NFL offices Monday discussing the team's bounty program.

Other issues also were being discussed with league executives, according to a person with knowledge of the meetings. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because the talks are not being made public.

The league would not comment on the meetings, which also included discussions of HGH testing.

Also on hand was NFL Players Association President Domonique Foxworth, who was elected to that position last month.

Brees and Fujita, now with the Browns, are members of the NFLPA's executive committee. Fujita was with the Saints in 2009 when the pay-for-pain bounty pool grew as large as $50,000 and the team won the Super Bowl.

Browns coach Pat Shurmur said on a conference call with Cleveland media Monday that Fujita missed the team's first offseason training session because he was in New York.

NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell is expected to soon punish players for their roles in the program that got Saints coach Sean Payton suspended for 2012. Between 22 and 27 current and former Saints defenders were involved, according to the league investigation.

The NFL investigation found that Payton initially lied about the existence of a bounty program and instructed his defensive assistants to do the same.

The Saints have been fined $500,000 and stripped of two second-round draft picks.