What does that even mean? Is that like the posters here who "refused to accept anything other than full exoneration," when I said that we'd be lucky to get out of this with a 25k dollar equipment violation? There's only so much one can do when placed in a bad situation. This was destined to fail from the get go, which was proven when the NFL decided to place us in a bad light leading up to their biggest game of the year. Obviously, they are under the assumption that all news--even bad news, still puts them in the spotlight.
Brady can't get a full exoneration. That has now become impossible. The team was fined, stripped of draft picks, and a dark cloud hangs over Foxborough; even if he gets his personal suspension reduced, rightfully so, through NFLPA tactics. They may be able to show that there is a major lack of evidence if they win a neutral party ruling for arbitration (otherwise, it's the exact same thing, which is why Goodell pretended to hand the case of to Vincent for the ruling in the first place), and that could lead to a reduction in suspension. Hell, Brady may even walk away with 0 games missed, but he'll never be fully exonerated. That isn't possible.
We can use the term "scorched earth" as much as possible over the next 4+ months, but Ted Wells (and other NFL execs) managed to paint the outline of a fairly serious rules infraction involving Brady and the team---even if they are wrong and didn't perform a fair investigation. Those questions aren't going away, they'll only add to an unfortunate situation that makes more people look badly. Unless McNally comes forward as the main fall guy, which is something I've actually wondered about, Brady will always have this controversy surrounding him. It's horrible. He may find some comfort in damage control, but never full exoneration.