Tom Brady’s 4-Game Suspension Reinstated For DeflateGate

Update:

Adam Schefter of ESPN reports that Patriots QB Tom Brady is unwilling to the accept court ruling from Monday regarding the four-game suspension he received for his role in “Deflategate.”

• According to Schefter, Brady is currently mulling over his options with his legal team.

Brady and the NFLPA can appeal the ruling to the full Second Circuit and then to the U.S. Supreme Court. In the time being, it seems likely that Brady and the NFLPA will seek a stay of the prior decision.

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The NFL released a statement regarding the ruling from the U.S. Appeals court to reinstate Patriots QB Tom Brady’s four-game suspension.

We are pleased the United State Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit ruled today that the Commissioner properly exercised his authority under the collective bargaining agreement to act in cases involving the integrity of the game. That authority has been recognized by many courts and has been expressly incorporated into every collective bargaining agreement between the NFL and NFLPA for the past 40 years.

Here’s the NFLPA’s statement:

The NFLPA is disappointed in the decision by the Second Circuit. We fought Roger Goodell’s suspension of Tom Brady because we know he did not serve as a fair arbitrator and that players’ rights were violated under our collective bargaining agreement.

Our Union will carefully review the decision, consider all of our options and continue to fight for players’ rights and for the integrity of the game.

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Reuters (CNBC) is reporting that U.S. Appeals court has reinstated the four-game suspension handed to Patriots QB Tom Brady by the NFL for his involvement in Deflategate.

Here’s an excerpt from the ruling:

We hold that the Commissioner properly exercised his broad 20 discretion under the collective bargaining agreement and that his 21 procedural rulings were properly grounded in that agreement and 22 did not deprive Brady of fundamental fairness. Accordingly, we 23 REVERSE the judgment of the district court and REMAND with 24 instructions to confirm the award.

There was talk earlier in the day that a ruling could by the Appeals court could come at some point this week, but it came even sooner than anticipated.

The Patriots first four opponents for the 2016 season include:

• Week 1: Cardinals
• Week 2: Dolphins
• Week 3: Texans
• Week 4: Bills

In total, Brady stands to lose $2,117,647 by serving the four-game suspension.

Previous reports had said that the Patriots were bracing for Brady to lose his Deflategate appeal and serve a four-game suspension, so this may not come as a surprise to them.

Brady can still participate in offseason workouts, training camp and the preseason before serving his ban.

This, of course, means that Jimmy Garoppolo is now in line to start the first four games of the season.

Brady, 38, stands to make a base salary of just $1 million over the next two years after he agreed to a restructured deal that included a $28 million signing bonus.

Brady and the Patriots clearly reworked his contract preemptively in order to limit the salary losses from this ban.

In 2015, Brady appeared in all 16 games for the Patriots and threw for 4,770 yards while completing 64.4 percent of his passes to go along with 36 touchdowns and seven interceptions.