I don't know. I think this is Goodell's way to try to Wells investigation part 2. Since Wells couldn't get Mcnally to interview again, this is a way to finish the Wells investigation.
Don't kid yourself. The result of the Brady appeal will be the Pats lose their 2017 first round pick. At least if Goodell gets his way.
I don't trust this process at all. I think this is horrible news. This whole thing from Goodell passing off the punishment to Vincent to him hearing to the appeal to him calling Jastremski and McNally seems to look like this whole thing is a set up to get the Pats and rehab Goodell's image. Could blow up in his face, but I don't look at this as a good thing at all.
Goodell may in fact be a moron. I do assume he has intelligent people advising him.
One thing that is blatantly obvious is that the Patriots win in court. There is no judge in America that would uphold taking away a union members right to work based upon the Wells report and the evidence vs Brady. A court could easily rule that even if Wells met the 'more probably than not' burden, that this burden is unacceptable with respect to denying employment (through suspension) of a unionized employee. Lets remember the court isn't ruling for Tom Brady and his 20 mill a year salary, they are ruling for Joe Lunchbucket working his $14 an hour union job as well.
Goodell also has to know that aside from Brady's suspension, the other things on trial will be:
His authority to discipline
The standard as mentioned above
The Personal Conduct policy and its constitutionality
The CBA itself by virute of a ruling that negates pieces of it
The anti-trust exemption if necessary.
In court, there is no way Brady loses. In court there is a good chance Goodell loses more than just Brady's suspension.
Goodell's smartest play is to read the Patriots response, do some investigation and judge that the Wells report is flawed, jumps to conclusions, does not meet the more probably than not standard because the science is wrong,and to many assumptions are made, and the the league after reviewing Wells work and the Patriots response find no reasonable means to consider the Patriots or Tom Brady guilty of any wrongdoing.
That is what will happen. It's just a matter of whether Goodell does it or the court does.