EDIT: Schefter Patriots get taken through the back channel by NFL

flasox27 said:

After reading Shefter's comments on weei, his opinion is that Kraft will fold and capitulate to the League. All I can say if that happens, Kraft does not deserve the support or patronage of the fans,

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Kraft will lose me totally. I want him to sell the team, at that point.

mihap said:

Well said. They must go trough the end and clear the name.
As a fan i demand that Kraft goes in court.
Nobody wants to be a fan of more probable than not cheaters.

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I meant calling us cheaters. And I agree.

flasox27 said:

Looking at this realistically, I think Kraft would accept a deal similar to what he thought would be proposed when he said he would accept punishment originally. IMO this would entail a fine and loss of mid round draft pick. Brady will be exonerated by the courts and not miss any games. Goodell is safe at this time but he will be gone after his next screw up. Keep in mind that nothing will change what people and media think about the Pats reputation. That ship sailed in 2007 when Kraft capitulated and I am amused if he thinks it can be rehabilitated.

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Unless there is a message on Brady's phone that says " deflate those footballs after the refs check them" the the NFL has no chance defending any of the science in that report in court.

tigerjohn said:

The facesaving solution for everyone involved is for the Patriots to make a formal appeal, provide "new information" unavailable to the investigation which Goodell uses to state that there is no evidence the Patriots deflated the footballs. The removes the first round pick and 500k and sustains the 500k and 4th round pick due to initial "lack of cooperation". Brady gets his suspension erased and is fined 250k for lack of cooperation.

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if the pats did nothing wrong, then there was nothing to cooperate with

given the well known manner of Wells 'investigations', it doesn't do anyone any good to cooperate with a 'prosecution' which is what it really was. If there was nothing on Brady's phone, then you would not have seen 'there was nothing on Brady's phone' in the report .... just as with all the other information that stood to exonerate and got ignored

goodell is going to have to decide what he wants to do....either take the heat himself, or pass it off as some behind the curtain agenda he wasn't aware of until it was too late.

the problem the league has is accounting for all the misinformation that got distributed in the first few days after the AFCC.......it amounts to slander and the league does not have the right to do that under any circumstance......since this is not a real courtroom, there is nothing preventing mortensen from divulging his sources......if the league has the authority to demand full cooperation, then they need to get full cooperation from everyone.....the pats fron office (part of the league) should have the right to the same kind of information from the kensils of the world as goodell has from brady....to suggest otherwise is to continue the farce

Roger Goodell punished the Patriots excessively just to please the Patriots Haters. Other teams Owners, Fans, Media. That's not fair. I'm not a blind homer, but I can see this punishment was not fair at all.

the pats need to demand the source of the information that mortensen and kravitz got.

finding the rat in this whole thing is easy.....find him and cut his balls off

reflexblue said:

If Kraft thinks brady and the team have done nothing wrong then theres nothing to negotiate, all disciplinary actions have to be rescinded.

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The flip side is, if the league thinks their case is solid, why would they be willing to negotiate?

tigerjohn said:

The facesaving solution for everyone involved is for the Patriots to make a formal appeal, provide "new information" unavailable to the investigation which Goodell uses to state that there is no evidence the Patriots deflated the footballs. The removes the first round pick and 500k and sustains the 500k and 4th round pick due to initial "lack of cooperation". Brady gets his suspension erased and is fined 250k for lack of cooperation.

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This is in no way face saving for the Patriots. It mitigates real damage to the team, but the stink of cheating will still be there. Haters everywhere would just point out how severe the punishment was as evidence of guilt and that Roger and Bob are best buds.

ThatllMoveTheChains!!! said:

This is in no way face saving for the Patriots. It mitigates real damage to the team, but the stink of cheating will still be there. Haters everywhere would just point out how severe the punishment was as evidence of guilt and that Roger and Bob are best buds.

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It's face-mitigating. The NFL will never capitulate completely. Dropping the actual violation will mean less reference to cheating in the more distant future. Nothing that happens will pacify the haters.

Wow there appears to be a few patriots fans that think the pats are guilty!

It can be the only reason they'd accept a reduced penalty rather than fight to get exoneration!

tigerjohn said:

It's face-mitigating. The NFL will never capitulate completely. Dropping the actual violation will mean less reference to cheating in the more distant future. Nothing that happens will pacify the haters.

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well.......better to do it now rather than having their asses torn open on a future, more important one

if they can't get through the process that led from AFCC pre game to Mortensen and Kravitz spewing, then the league should not complain when a team like the pats begins to produce weekly reports of non compliance and demand that draft picks get removed.......eventually, the pats 2nd rounder will become that 1st rounder they lost....except the league will have to deal with wiping **** spatter off of their faces every monday or tuesday

Shed83 said:

Wow there appears to be a few patriots fans that think the pats are guilty!

It can be the only reason they'd accept a reduced penalty rather than fight to get exoneration!

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They may not have a choice because none of us know the implications of any of this. Also, anyone who thinks the pats are guilty are either the mindless media followers, people who hate the pats (which is most of the country) and a select few here who just cant accept facts over there extreme chicken little tendencies.

Also, as sad and pathetic as this whole thing is nothing would make the other teams and their fans happier than to see Pats fans turn on the pats. That is what they want. We can all turn our backs on Kraft if he accepts any type of punishment. While I dont think he should it may happen.

When people here turn on Kraft all they are doing is letting the fans of other teams win. If Kraft did not try to fight or gave in, I would be disappointed. But if it at least gets in the ring, exposes the league, fights for justice, I will still watch the pats

Look, the patriots did not tamper with the balls. However, they can face penalties for a few things.

Taking balls without permission.
Not making McNally available for the 5th interview
Brady not providing phone records.

This should resolve with some sort of fine

And maybe a late round pick. Anything more should be unacceptable.

TheBeers said:

Could it be the NFL actually had somebody smart read the stupid report and realize... Hey this thing is a huge stinking pile of ****! Why the hell did we go ahead and punish them with the harshest sanctions in the history of the sport with literally zero proof of wrongdoing? We are going to get sued and lose our jobs! Maybe we should reconsider this?

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Assuming that the Patriots are innocent (and I believe they are), they should demand that all penalties against the team are rescinded, the team is fully exonerated, and Goodell, Kensil, and Vincent are all removed from their positions after issuing a formal apology.

If Massachusetts is a potential venue for legal proceedings (and I think venue is a very big deal here), Patriots have a great deal of leverage in any negotiations.

The only thing the NFL wants is Kraft having Brady drop his appeal and accept his
4 game suspension.

Shed83 said:

Wow there appears to be a few patriots fans that think the pats are guilty!

It can be the only reason they'd accept a reduced penalty rather than fight to get exoneration!

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Nobody wants to find out what happens if this goes to the courts, it is bad for the NFL and bad for the Patriots. The only reason it would go to court is if the penalties are as they currently stand.

This is a negotiation, if you go scorched earth, it is going to be bad for everybody. This is a billion dollar business, you folks are acting like it is Bobby-Sue and Jessie from down the street trying to resolve their differences.

Bruins29 said:

They may not have a choice because none of us know the implications of any of this. Also, anyone who thinks the pats are guilty are either the mindless media followers, people who hate the pats (which is most of the country) and a select few here who just cant accept facts over there extreme chicken little tendencies.

Also, as sad and pathetic as this whole thing is nothing would make the other teams and their fans happier than to see Pats fans turn on the pats. That is what they want. We can all turn our backs on Kraft if he accepts any type of punishment. While I dont think he should it may happen.

When people here turn on Kraft all they are doing is letting the fans of other teams win. If Kraft did not try to fight or gave in, I would be disappointed. But if it at least gets in the ring, exposes the league, fights for justice, I will still watch the pats

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So you're buying the "deflator " moniker was because he was trying to lose weight? Glad you weren't on the Boston bomber's jury.

Well I doubt Goodell will budge at all because if he does he will go back to looking incompetent.