How long does the league have if they want to punish a team?

[LeoparCT]

I'm curious as to how long the league can punish a team for admitted cheating. Is it like the legal system where most crimes have a statute of limitations or is it like the most serious crimes that are without time limits?

 

[Bruins29]

How many stupid threads are you going to start here?

 

[LeoparCT]

How many stupid threads are you going to start here?

So asking a question directly related to football is a stupid question to you?

I could throw out a petty insult like you have a penchant to do but I'll rise above and put you on ignore.

 

[Palm Beach Pats Fan]

The NFL is not a US government organization or a municipal police force.

They do as they damned well please, in the time frame that they damn well please.

 

[Bruins29]

Yesterday, You started a thread asking if Aaron Hernandez should get a second chance right in the middle of everyone celebrating this victory. Awful

Then in the middle of all the positivity yesterday, you start this worst crime thread which was stupid.

Now in the middle of everything today you start this punishment thread.

Nobody cares about this you troll

 

[Jimke]

The NFL would probably want to settle before the draft so they can take away draft choices.

 

[PatsWickedPissah]

The NFL would probably want to settle before the draft so they can take away draft choices.

and of course the blatant PUBLIC tampering by Woody J of the Jesters will NOT be addressed by draft time

 

[LeoparCT]

The NFL would probably want to settle before the draft so they can take away draft choices.

That's a perfect world scenario though. What happens if it's 3 or more seasons later? I have to believe that the league either ignores the admitted cheating or publicly decries it while handing out no punishment.

 

[smurfalarm]

To answer your question, there is no statute of limitations on punishing franchises. The Broncos circumvented the salary cap in the 90's, and the league continued to issue fines and take away draft picks close to ten years later after some new evidence came out.

In this particular case, it is very unlikely that any reliable new evidence will emerge more than a year from now, and even if it did the league is unlikely to be interested in pursuing it, so we can probably assume that whenever the league office wraps up its investigation and decides on punishments (if any), the matter will be settled.