Settlement Between NFL & Tom Brady Unlikely Due To “Considerable” Support To Uphold Ban

Update:

Mark Maske of the Washington Post reports that the odds of the NFL and Tom Brady reaching an agreement on a settlement for his four-game suspension aren’t very good.

According to Maske, there’s sentiment among other franchises for the NFL and commissioner Roger Goodell to uphold Brady’s current ban.

Maske spoke to numerous sources from NFL teams and the Players Association regarding the matter, and while some didn’t completely rule out the changes of a sentiment, there is reportedly “considerable” support to keep Brady’s punishment in place.

The overall expectation is that Brady and the NFLPA will take the issue to court, where there’s at least a chance he could have his entire suspension nullified.

———-

Dan Graziano of ESPN reports that the NFL Players Association extended a settlement offer to the NFL last week regarding Tom Brady‘s suspension.

According to Graziano, Brady is believed to be holding firm on his refusal to accept any suspension, but would instead consider accepting a fine for his role in DeflateGate.

However, the NFLPA’s offer on Brady’s behalf was reportedly met with “silence” by the NFL.

———

Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk, citing a league source, reports that there have been settlement talks between the NFL and Tom Brady regarding his appeal of the four-game suspension he received for DeflateGate.

However, there has reportedly been no progress towards a deal between the two parties. As of now, Florio mentions that an agreement is “unexpected” but still possible.

Meanwhile, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell is “being pushed by a small handful of influential owners to hold firm on the four-game suspension,” according to Florio. Although, there’s still a fear that Brady could take the case to federal court and have his suspension completely wiped out.

Florio adds that attorney Gregg Levy is believed to have been warning Goodell that it will be difficult to make a suspension stick in court.

Goodell’s best course of action from a public relations standpoint is to keep the suspension in place and let the court determine if Brady should be suspended and for how many games.

Earlier in the day, NFLPA president Eric Winston mentioned that it’s “not even worth trying to guess because it doesn’t seem like at all times they know what’s going on,” per Rob Guerrera.

Winston added: “I hope they exonerate Tom and overturn the suspension, but if they don’t we’re prepared to take the next step.”

Shortly after it was announced that Cowboys DE Greg Hardy had his 10-game suspension reduced to four games by an arbitrator, many assumed that the NFL would have to reduce Brady’s ban to at least two games.

The idea here is that it would be especially hard for the NFL and Goodell to justify a similar suspension for Brady when Hardy’s domestic violence case resulted in a similar number of games missed.

Although, the NFL is likely to invoke the “integrity of the game” as the main reason for upholding any suspension.

We’ll have more regarding Brady and his appeal case as the news is available.