Tom Brady will sit out the first four games of the upcoming NFL season, but Deflategate hasn’t officially been put to rest quite yet.
The New England Patriots quarterback has granted the NFL Players Association permission to continue fighting his four-game suspension, a source told ProFootballTalk’s Mike Florio, even after announcing he is done doing so himself.
“The reality is that Brady has (per a source with knowledge of the situation) authorized the NFLPA to proceed with the appeal on his behalf,” Florio wrote Monday in a guest column for The MMQB. “It won’t keep him from missing the first four games of the season, but it could ultimately restore his lost pay of more than $253,000, reduce (NFL commissioner Roger Goodell’s) power in player disciplinary cases, and provide Brady with genuine vindication.”
Brady accepted his ban Friday, announcing in a Facebook post he would not take his case to the U.S. Supreme Court. He will be barred from having any contact with the team during the first four weeks of the regular season, and backup Jimmy Garoppolo is expected to start in his absence.
Brady will be eligible to return to game action when the Patriots visit the Cleveland Browns in Week 5.
Thumbnail photo via Steve Mitchell/USA TODAY Sports Images
