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Deflategate has dominated NFL headlines since the New England Patriots emerged victorious in Super Bowl XLIX. The incident became that much more of an attention grabber after the league revealed New England’s severe punishments, which included a four-game suspension for superstar quarterback Tom Brady. With the NFL owner’s meetings this week, the easy assumption was there would be plenty of bad blood. However, it appears the Patriots and commissioner Roger Goodell are attempting to work out their differences behind the scenes.
According to NFL Insider Adam Schefter, the two sides are interacting via “back-channel conversations” in order to resolve the issue ahead of the Patriots’ possible official appeal process. Considering New England has until Friday to file an appeal, it appears they are taking their time to decide what to do. In the meantime, they are talking to the league to see what other options are available to them to lessen the blow of the Deflategate punishment.
I think we can all agree that Brady and specific people within the Patriots organization were well aware of the altering of the footballs. With that said, the fact that the Wells report fails to acknowledge specific evidence against Brady proves the suspension might be over the top. In actuality, New England is mostly responsible for failing to properly cooperate with the investigation, which that in itself made them look guilty. However, as far as physical evidence, there really was not any. For that reason, New England may have a solid case in an appeal.
Patriots owner Robert Kraft and Goodell plan to sit down in person at some point this week to discuss in detail the current predicament. At this point, it is hard to see where the chips will finally fall, although I have to assume the penalties will get reduced.
Michael Terrill is a Senior Writer for Rant Sports. Follow him on Twitter @MichaelTerrill, “Like” him on Facebook or add him to your network on Google.
