Let's look at a worse case scenario.
We can assume because of text messages presented in the Wells Report and the appeal transcripts that Brady wanted his footballs between 12.5 and 13.0 initially and at 12.5 after the Jets game.
We can assume that properly inflated footballs during away games had no impact on Brady's performance nor fumble rates.
Tom Brady's home and away stats may shed some light on Deflategate (<<Link)
So based on that and many other elements, which I won't rehash, we can assume or know that Brady did not want to have the footballs changed or altered for the purpose of "cheating" or to gain a competitive advantage.
I think you are on board with those assumptions. Correct me if I'm wrong. If you agree shouldn't have the NFL come to the same conclusion?
So we look at the Science. Were there mistakes in the Wells report? Yes. Can science accurately pinpoint to a number or a PSI with so many unknowns and recollections? No. Of course not.
But please understand that Science can still provide an accurate window of possibility with what is known and greater minds than I (much greater actually) can conclude statistically that those parameters prove to be insignificant or IOW that it is likely that no deflation occurred.
But that does not mean that it is impossible just not likely.
So how much air do you believe was "missing" from those footballs? If you stick to the intercepted ball we know that it measured approximately 11.0. The Wells report states 11.32 for a wet football and the intercepted football was definitely wet. So without science or math would you accept 0.32 psi missing? IF so for what purpose would they have released that air?
IF I accepted that number it would lead me to believe that McNally went into the restroom to Check the psi of all the footballs because of what happened during the Jets game. OR the Refs pumped the footballs up to 16 psi , as they apparently did during the Jets game, and McNally brought them back down to 12.5.
Is that cheating?
Shouldn't the NFL have concluded that it was, at worse, a ball attendant trying to ensure the balls were at 12.5 psi? They didn't and wanted blood. They had already released the 2 psi story either out of ignorance or for some other nefarious purpose and needed to hang them out to dry.
So would you hand over your phone under those circumstances? Not one lawyer would advise that. They were not looking for the truth they were looking to hang Brady.