There are so many moving parts in this, but really it all starts with two very important questions first.
1. Is Brady actually innocent?
This is really the question that no one actually seems to know right now outside of Brady. If he is, and I would be surprised if he wasnt, leads to the second part
2. does he want to make his life fully opened to the league?
This is the worst part about the Wells report, Brady now has to prove innocence even though he hasnt been proven guilty. If clearing his name is that important, he will have to open up viewing of his communication devices, emails, possibly family members, teammates and the list goes on. What happens if they open up his text messages, and Peyton and Tom have had multiple texts on the subject? Does Brady protect his friends from that sort of abuse? Given what we know about the guy, I think so. What about other texts that have nothing to do with deflated balls, but things that would paint him and others in a negative light? You think Brady wants to bring the NFL fraternity to a grinding halt waiting to see if a flippant comment made to a friend makes ESPN? What a mess that would be for the league. It would be like the Sony email hacks, except the LEAGUE WOULD HAVE DONE IT TO ITSELF.
If we were to assume it would get this far, that Brady went through with the lawsuit, the person with the most to lose, and by far, is Kraft. If he does not publically support the guy who has made him over a billion dollars, count that relationship, both professionally and socially, over. How do you think Belichick would deal with an owner who pushes his franchise player out the door? Is there enough grace there, or does that relationship sour? What about the rest of the staff and players, knowing that the most beloved player in league history, isnt worth being backed by his own owner.
Lets assume Kraft throws his support behind Brady fully, that is basically the end of his relationship with Goodell. That may seem like nothing to us who despise the job he has done, but the owner club is a small one, and an owner going rogue against the league would be heavily unpopular. I cant think of what the falllout would be for a team when an owner is in direct opposition with its league.
Again, there are a lot of moving parts. I will be fascinated to see Bradys response tomorrow first and foremost, but in the long run, Kraft has the most to lose no matter what he does.