Report: “No Doubt” Patriots QB Tom Brady Will Still Serve A 4-Game Suspension

According to Craig Carton of WFAN, a league source told him that there’s “no doubt” Patriots QB Tom Brady will still serve a four-game suspension this season.

• Carton cited a “very influential person in the NFL” who told him “there’s no doubt in his mind” that Brady will serve a four-game suspension after the NFL’s appeal is heard.
• Carton added that the league is trying to get their appeal expedited.

Of course, the NFL lost the most recent court battle, which called into question the league’s process in this case.

NFL commissioner Roger Goodell released a statement saying that they plan to appeal the ruling, but won’t pursue a stay for Brady that could have prevented him from playing at the start of the season.

Here’s the statement released by Goodell at the time:

We are grateful to Judge Berman for hearing this matter, but respectfully disagree with today’s decision. We will appeal today’s ruling in order to uphold the collectively bargained responsibility to protect the integrity of the game. The commissioner’s responsibility to secure the competitive fairness of our game is a paramount principle, and the league and our 32 clubs will continue to pursue a path to that end. While the legal phase of this process continues, we look forward to focusing on football and the opening of the regular season.

While the league could still be hoping for Brady to receive some form of punishment for DeflateGate, Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk writes that the league may be “delusional” to think this is what’s going to transpire.

“As a practical matter, there’s no way Brady will serve a suspension this year unless the Patriots have the No. 1 seed in the AFC clinched by December and the Patriots persuade Brady to broker a settlement that reduces the suspension to two games in which he wouldn’t be playing anyway,” writes Florio.

Even if the league were to win the next round, Florio mentions that the case would likely head back to Judge Berman, who previously ruled in Brady’s favor, for further proceedings.

Florio believes Berman would most likely allow Brady to keep playing while that the case remained unresolved.

We’ll have more regarding Brady and a potential suspension as the news is available.