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This assumes there are other teams interested in him, which is not even remotely a given in this case (despite what his agent says). I think he'd be signed right now if there was another team interested in him. I think it's quite clear no one is interested in him.But he could still play football either way? He's a free agent, there's nothing preventing a team from signing him even with an active grievance against the Patriots.
You're assuming he wins the grievance. He has a strong case (and I think he will win), but it is hardly guaranteed. He wouldn't be the first person in history to have a strong case and still make a deal to guarantee it.In theory, other than his likely placement on the exempt list upon signing (which would affect the Patriots in such a scenario too), there's nothing preventing him from having his cake and eating it too.
Furthermore even if we ignore the $9 million, it is clearly in his financial best interest to serve the inevitable suspension and get back to the field as soon as possible, instead of taking off the entire season and still facing the prospect of exemption/suspension.
I never said it did. All I said is that such a (hypothetical) deal is not lose-lose because it clearly benefits AB both financially and from a standpoint of personal desire.Also this still doesn't fix the salary cap thing.
Besides, your main qualm with me is how I said for AB to (theoretically) drop the grievance. Fine. Let's suppose instead, as was suggested, the Patriots simply pay the existing bonus in exchange for a vet minimum contract. Then they haven't lost a single thing short term against the cap. The only thing they've lost is the chance to recover that $9 million which you sure as heck don't think they have a chance at anyway.