No Settlement For Brady; Ruling Expected Soon
It may not fit the traditional definition of the term, but it’s clear that this year’s most significant “quarterback controversy” has been the one in New England. By the end of this week though, the Patriots should get some resolution and find out whether or not Tom Brady will be available to play in Week 1.
According to Manhattan Federal Court reporter Stephen Brown (via Twitter), today’s hearing in Judge Richard Berman’s courtroom concluded without a settlement between the NFL and the NFLPA. With no compromise reached, Berman expects to make a ruling on Tuesday or Wednesday, or at least by the end of the week.
Because Judge Berman can’t force the two sides to reach a settlement, and can’t determine a middle ground himself, he’ll have to either uphold or vacate Brady’s four-game suspension. Of course, regardless of which way Berman rules, the losing party will almost certainly appeal the decision, resulting in more litigation. But if Berman were to vacate the suspension, it would clear the path for Brady to start the Patriots’ regular season opener.
According to Bowen (all Twitter links), Giants owner John Mara and NFLPA rep Jay Feely both took part in negotiations today, but they went nowhere. Judge Berman acknowledged that both parties “tried quite hard” to settle, but it just didn’t happen.
Tom Brady Settlement Talks At Standstill
Earlier today, we heard that Tom Brady was headed to New York in order to be present for Wednesday’s federal court hearing with Judge Richard M. Berman. However, now it seems that Brady’s time in New York will be brief, and won’t include attending tomorrow’s meeting.
According to Tom Pelissero of USA Today (via Twitter), Brady was in New York today to participate in settlement discussions regarding his case, but no progress was made. Pelissero suggested (via Twitter) that Brady had made the decision to rejoin the Patriots rather than sticking around New York, but Albert Breer of the NFL Network tweets that the Super Bowl MVP was told by Judge Berman that there’s no need for him to be there tomorrow, with settlement talks at a standstill.
Throughout the process, Judge Berman has encouraged the NFL and NFLPA to try to find common ground and reach a settlement, but that outcome always looked like a long shot. The league wants Brady to serve a suspension of some sort, even if it’s not his full four-game penalty, while the Patriots signal-caller is reportedly unwilling to accept more than a fine.
With a settlement looking increasingly unlikely, Judge Berman figures to eventually make a ruling on the case. Tomorrow’s hearing, which will take place without Brady, should help to provide a timeline for when Berman’s decision could come.
Latest On DeflateGate
While most hope the fight between the NFL and the NFL Players Association regarding Tom Brady’s DeflateGate case will conclude prior to the season, it doesn’t appear likely. Attorneys for both the league and Brady requested a verdict from US district judge Richard Berman on Brady’s lawsuit by Sept. 4, according to the Boston Globe’s Ben Volin, but his decision probably won’t be the end of it.
Berman encouraged both sides to reach a settlement last week, saying, “The average life of a suit with appeal is two years, not two months. I think it’s fair to say that no one here wants to wait that long.”
Unfortunately, though, an appeal seems inevitable because neither side has shown a willingness to move from their respective stances. The league – which originally handed Brady a four-game suspension in May – wants the quarterback to sit at least one game, but Brady won’t accept anything more than a fine.
Should Berman’s decision end up in Brady’s favor, he’ll be permitted to play immediately. However, a subsequent appeal to the Second Court from the league might spell disaster for him in the future. If the Second Court rules in favor of the league, Brady could end up missing time later in the regular season or, worse, the playoffs. The chance of that happening is slim, though, as Volin notes that the appeals process moves slowly and likely wouldn’t be completed during the upcoming season.
If Berman sides with the league, on the other hand, Brady will ask Berman for a motion to stay the suspension pending appeal, per Volin. If that fails, Brady will opt for a preliminary injunction or temporary restraining order from the Second Circuit. That would enable him to play until his appeal is heard.
Regardless of what ultimately happens, DeflateGate has owned headlines for months and could cast a pall over the upcoming season. Some owners across the league have grown weary of it, Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk wrote Sunday, and are hoping the two sides reach a settlement soon. Conversely, Florio reports that certain “hard-core, old-school owners” don’t want the league to budge because it would mean conceding power to the NFLPA. Bad blood between the owners and the union is a key reason DeflateGate will continue to be a dominant story.
NFLPA Issues Motion In Brady Case
As lawyers for both the NFL and NFLPA continued to meet in New York earlier today to discuss Tom Brady‘s appeal, the union has issued an opposition to the league’s Brady motion. The 19-page document is available here, and Sports Illustrated legal expert Michael McCann has been providing his analysis via Twitter.
The documents levies specific charges at investigator Ted Wells, noting that Wells said Brady would not punished for not disclosing his text messages. Furthermore, the filing highlights that Wells did indicate that the analysis of halftime PSI measurements was based on “uncertain” data, per McCann.
Per McCann, the new filing is “the most direct attack on [Roger] Goodell yet,” opining that because the memo is so scathing, the chances of a settlement between the two parties no appear slim. Furthermore, says McCann, the NFL appears to have lost the public relations battle, arguing that even if a judge rules in the league’s favor, one “could argue that Goodell has already lost DeflateGate.”
Indeed, in perhaps the harshest language used by either side during the entire squabble, the NFLPA’s filing calls the Wells report “a propaganda piece written for public consumption…to validate a multi-million-dollar ‘independent’ investigation.”
East Notes: Brady, Giants, G. Smith
Lawyers for the NFL and NFLPA are meeting today for more settlement talks regarding Tom Brady‘s situation, Ian Rapoport of NFL.com tweets. Judge Richard M. Berman wants the two sides to compromise and reach a settlement, but Brady can’t concede to the NFL’s terms without committing perjury, argues Charles Robinson of Yahoo! Sports.
As Robinson explains, the league wants the Patriots quarterback to admit guilt, but Brady testified under oath that he was innocent. So if a settlement is to be reached, the NFL will likely have to give more ground than Brady and the NFLPA to make it happen.
Here’s more on the Brady situation, along with several more notes from out of the East divisions:
- Judge Berman has made next Wednesday’s settlement conference optional for Brady and commissioner Roger Goodell, and Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk thinks the judge may be trying to discern whether Goodell and Brady view the case as sufficiently important to attend the meeting.
- Free agent guard Evan Mathis may be on the verge of signing with an NFL team, according to a recent report, but Dan Graziano of ESPNNewYork.com (on Twitter) says he doesn’t think it’ll be the Giants, since he doesn’t believe they’re interested.
- Graziano (on Twitter) also doesn’t see Jason Pierre-Paul staying with the Giants beyond 2015.
- Geno Smith and IK Enemkpali are both to blame for the unrest in the Jets‘ locker room, Kristian Dyer of Metro NY writes. Meanwhile, Jason Cole of Bleacher Report (video link) suggests there’s a belief that Smith lacks respect within the Jets organization and may have been on his way to losing the starting job even before his injury. The quarterback underwent surgery today and had plates and screws put in, though his jaw won’t be wired shut, per Brian Costello of the New York Post (Twitter link).
- Don’t blame Jets coach Todd Bowles for the Smith-Enemkpali smackdown and the recent Sheldon Richardson transgressions, but start judging him now, Rich Cimini of ESPN.com writes. How Bowles handles the team’s latest road bumps will determine what type of coach he becomes for the Jets.
- Undrafted center David Andrews out of Georgia is a top candidate among the Patriots‘ four UDFAs to land a roster spot, Mike Reiss of ESPN.com tweets.
Zach Links contributed to this post.
Latest On DeflateGate, Brady Appeal
The session in Judge Berman’s courtroom today in New York – which included Tom Brady, Roger Goodell, and reps from the NFL and NFLPA – has now concluded, and union executive director DeMaurice Smith didn’t have much to say as he left for the day, tweets Ian Rapoport of NFL.com.
“We won’t be making a formal statement other than to say we had a productive day in court,” Smith said. “We’ll get back to work on the issue.”
Part of today’s hearing was open to the public, and NFL Media legal analyst Gabe Feldman, who was in attendance, suggests Judge Berman’s goal was to ask questions that created some fear on both sides that they could lose the case (link via NFL.com).
“I think that it was a big part of the purpose of this morning was for the judge to poke holes in both sides,” Feldman said. “To say, I have some serious questions about both of your cases and I could rule against each of you based on the questions I have. So rather than risk losing it all, rather than risk a worst-case scenario, why not move a little bit in toward something of a settlement rather than face my decision.”
Here’s more on the hearing:
- Judge Berman grilled the NFL extensively about its reliance on Ted Wells’ report and the lack of a “smoking gun” implicating Brady in any football deflation, writes Lorenzo Reyes of USA Today. While Berman’s line of questioning to the league may have been more aggressive and pointed than his questions to the NFLPA, he made it clear that he had yet to determine which side would prevail in litigation.
- It may time for Brady to consider making a deal that would reduce – but not eliminate – his suspension, suggests Tom E. Curran of CSNNE.com, observing that “Judge Berman wants a settlement and he’s going to smash these sides together to make one.”
- A settlement still seems unlikely, says ESPN.com’s Mike Reiss in his recap of the public portion of today’s meeting. Meanwhile, UNH law professor Michael McCann believes that the NFL has to be concerned about setting a troublesome precedent if it reaches a settlement with Brady and concedes too much (link via CSNNE.com).
- In the opinion of WEEI’s Mike Petraglia, Wells’ report – and the NFL’s reliance on it – will be the undoing of the league’s case against Brady.
Latest On DeflateGate, Brady Appeal
Tom Brady, the NFL, and the NFL Players Association are scheduled to meet on Wednesday morning for a court hearing presided over by Judge Richard Berman. Before that session, however, Judge Berman would like to see the two sides re-engage in settlement talks.
Albert Breer of the NFL Network reports (via Twitter) that Judge Berman asked the two sides to “engage in further good faith settlements efforts today” before he meets with them tomorrow. Judge Berman intends to meet with counsel from both the NFL and NFLPA before tomorrow’s public hearing to get an update on their progress.
Despite the order from Judge Berman, don’t look for anything of substance to happen regarding settlement talks today, tweets Jason Cole of Bleacher Report. Mark Maske of the Washington Post spoke to several people familiar with the case who expressed a similar sentiment, suggesting that not much had changed since the two sides unsuccessfully attempted to reach a settlement earlier.
While Brady is extremely unlikely to agree to any settlement that would acknowledge he had any involvement in deflating footballs, he and the NFLPA may agree to a deal that penalizes him for a lack of cooperation with the league’s DeflateGate investigation. However, Brady and the union would likely push for a fine – rather than a suspension – in that scenario, which may not be sufficient for the NFL.
The NFL and NFLPA probably won’t reach a resolution today, but there’s hope that the accelerated court schedule will allow the case to conclude soon.
AFC Notes: Foster, Brady, Colts, Nicks
As we inch close to the start of the NFL’s preseason schedule, let’s round up a few of the latest updates from around the AFC….
- Texans running back Arian Foster underwent successful surgery on his groin this morning in Philadelphia, and Ian Rapoport of NFL.com tweets that there’s some hope Foster’s recovery period will be less than three months. The star running back still appears to be a strong candidate for the club’s IR-DTR slot to open the regular season.
- The settlement conference between the NFL and NFLPA is scheduled to take place at 11:00am eastern time next Wednesday, tweets Ben Volin of the Boston Globe. Patriots quarterback Tom Brady and commissioner Roger Goodell will both attend the meeting in Judge Richard M. Berman’s courtroom.
- The Colts snagged cornerback Tevin Mitchel off waivers from Washington this week, despite the fact that he’s expected to miss the season with a shoulder injury, writes Stephen Holder of the Indianapolis Star. As Holder explains, the Colts were targeting Mitchel in the draft this year before Washington grabbed him in the sixth round, and the club now has the opportunity to stash him on its IR for the season.
- Teresa M. Walker of The Associated Press examines Hakeem Nicks‘ efforts to earn a roster spot in Tennessee after signing a one-year deal with the Titans this offseason.
AFC East Notes: Gronk, Brady, Dolphins, Clay
Earlier this summer, an excerpt from Rob Gronkowski‘s autobiography revealed that the Patriots tight end claims he hasn’t spent a dime of his NFL salary, living off of endorsement money instead. As of July 30, Gronkowski has a little more NFL money to save up — according to Field Yates of ESPN.com, the Pats reworked their star tight end’s contract, converting $4MM of his $10MM end-of-year option bonus to a signing bonus. The option, which is due before the end of the league year, is now worth $6MM, and New England appears more likely than ever to exercise it.
Jason Fitzgerald of Over the Cap breaks down the unusual cap ramifications of the move, suggesting that the restructure should increase Gronkowski’s 2015 cap hit by $2MM before reducing his 2016 charge by $2MM. After that, the cap numbers for the rest of Gronkowski’s contract should remain the same.
Here’s more from around the AFC East:
- NFLPA executive George Atallah confirmed today (via Twitter) that Tom Brady and union reps will attend a conference in New York on August 12 to meet with the NFL and U.S. District Judge Richard M. Berman. Roger Goodell will also attend the hearing in person, tweets Ed Werder of ESPN.com. Meanwhile, Ben Volin of the Boston Globe notes (via Twitter) that NFLPA and NFL attorneys had a telephone conference yesterday with Mag. Judge James C. Francis regarding the Patriots quarterback’s case.
- Appearing on the Jose Rose Show on 560 WQAM in Miami, Dolphins VP of football operations Mike Tannenbaum didn’t rule out pursuing free agent guard Evan Mathis, as Andrew Abramson of the Palm Beach Post details. The Dolphins’ interest in Mathis has been downplayed recently, but I imagine they’d be very interested if one of their current guards struggles or suffers an injury.
- Having brought in Rex Ryan, LeSean McCoy, Percy Harvin, and Richie Incognito over the offseason, the Bills made plenty of newsworthy moves. However, no player received more guaranteed money from the team this year than tight end Charles Clay. Tyler Dunne of The Buffalo News examines how Clay is fitting in so far in Buffalo.
AFC East Notes: Brady, Bills, Dolphins
Earlier today, we learned that a Minnesota judge ruled that the NFLPA’s appeal on behalf of Tom Brady will be transferred to Manhattan, where the NFL first filed its own lawsuit. According to NFLPA outside counsel Jeffrey Kessler, the union doesn’t view that as a big deal.
“It really doesn’t matter to us where the case is,” Kessler told Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk. “What we finally have is a neutral forum. Before a neutral forum, we are very confident in our position.”
The NFLPA will have make some revisions when it re-files its appeal in New York, but “ostensibly we will be making the same arguments,” said Kessler, adding that the union is “very happy” to have Judge Richard M. Berman appointed to the case.
Let’s round up a couple more items related to the Brady situation, along with some other notes out of the AFC East….
- Kessler spoke yesterday to Tom Pelissero of USA Today, broadly addressing the NFLPA’s appeal on Brady’s behalf and explaining the case the union will be making in court. As Pelissero writes, the NFLPA’s appeal quotes Patriots owner Robert Kraft at length, and Kessler said of Kraft’s statement from earlier this week: “I’ve never more agreed with Robert Kraft in my life, about anything.”
- On the Dan Patrick Show today, NFLPA executive George Atallah said the NFLPA’s settlement offer involved Brady paying a fine instead of serving a suspension, and the NFL didn’t respond to that offer (Twitter link via Noah Coslov).
- Appearing at a “Business of Sports” breakfast in Buffalo on Thursday, Bills owner Terry Pegula said work on a new stadium for his team is “nothing urgent right now,” writes Mark Gaughan of The Buffalo News. Commissioner Roger Goodell and some NFL owners have said that a new stadium will eventually be a necessity in Western New York, but Pegula pointed to several upgrades made on Ralph Wilson Stadium in recent years, suggesting it would be “foolish” to pursue a new stadium right after renovating the current one.
- Speaking today to reporters, including James Walker of ESPN.com (via Twitter), Dolphins owner Stephen Ross praised the talent on Miami’s 2015 roster, and said he and head coach Joe Philbin are expecting a payoff this year. While Ross didn’t specifically address Philbin’s job status, there has been plenty of speculation that the head coach will be on the hot seat if the Fins don’t make the playoffs this season.