Tom Brady and the NFL ultimately did not reach a settlement Monday in the New England Patriots quarterback’s Deflategate suspension appeal, and according to reports, the league never even made an official offer.
The NFL was willing to cut a deal with Brady, according to Gary Myers of the New York Daily News, but its reported offer was … underwhelming, to say the least.
NFL never made formal settlement offer, but indicated willing to cut suspension to 3 games if Brady admitted DeflateGate guilt. No deal.
— Gary Myers (@GaryMyersNY) August 31, 2015
Yes, that’s biting sarcasm there from Zolak, the Patriots’ radio color commentator.
It previously had been reported that even cutting Brady’s four-game suspension down to a single game would not be enough to convince the quarterback to admit guilt. An offer of three games likely would have been laughed out of the room.
U.S. District Court Judge Richard Berman said Monday he will hand down his ruling in the case by the end of this week, and possibly as soon as Tuesday.
UPDATE (6:58 p.m. ET): NFL Media’s Ian Rapoport cited a source briefed on Brady’s thinking that the Patriots quarterback was believed to be “open” to a one-game suspension for failure to cooperate with Ted Wells’ investigation into Deflategate.
So the gap between Brady and the NFL, which Rapoport said would have considered a two-game ban, indeed was way too wide for a settlement.
Thumbnail photo via Stew Milne/USA TODAY Sports Images
