Mark J. Rebilas USA TODAY Sports
In the aftermath of Ted Wells’ report regarding the New England Patriots and deflated footballs, the NFL has suspended quarterback Tom Brady for four games. In addition, the Patriots have been fined $1 million and they will lose two draft picks (first-round pick in 2016, fourth-round pick in 2017).
The Wells Report considered it “more probable than not” that Brady had something to do with under-inflated footballs during the most recent AFC Championship Game, which was a blowout victory for the Patriots over the Indianapolis Colts. While the phrase “more probable than not” comes off as a bit juvenile to me, there seems to be sufficient evidence to justify suspending Brady for the first four games of the 2015 regular season.
An appeal is surely coming from Brady in concert with the NFL Player’s Association, and with commissioner Roger Goodell no longer having total authority over the appeal process I expect a reduction in Brady’s penalty. A complete reversal of the four-game suspension is not coming, since the league has to make sure an alleged attempt to mess with the integrity of the game comes with a penalty, but I expect two games to be what is ultimately settled on.
Jimmy Garoppolo was drafted as a potential successor to Brady in the second round of the 2014 draft, and he will now make his first NFL start in the league’s season opener this year on Sept. 10 against the Pittsburgh Steelers. New England’s following three games will be against the Buffalo Bills (Week 2), Jacksonville Jaguars (Week 3) and Dallas Cowboys (Week 5), with a Week 4 bye in-between.
If Brady does wind up sitting out the first four games of the season, which I don’t expect to come to fruition, that still won’t have to derail the coming season for the Patriots. Brady will be able to work closely with Garoppolo right up until the end of the preseason, to help ensure the second-year signal caller is ready to go when games count.
At this point we should know better than to completely write off New England’s chances to make another deep postseason run, and their quest to repeat as Super Bowl champions will be intact whenever Brady returns to the field.
Brad Berreman is a Senior Writer at Rant Sports.com. Follow him on Twitter.
