It’s not too far away now; the day that the ruling in the Deflategate case comes, and it’ll all be behind us. Yes to a suspension or not, the endless and seriously uninteresting quarrel between the league with Roger Goodell spearheading the attack, the New England Patriots and Tom Brady is way past its peak point.
The two sides once again couldn’t settle in court about finding somewhere that’s between “not guilty of anything” and “caught cheater, suspended 4 games”. Rumors suggest the league offered to trim Brady’s punishment by one game if he admitted guilt, but at this point, it’s not going to happen, and it just means the league doesn’t really want to settle making these kind of offers they know will be rejected.
So now, it’s up to U.S. District Court Judge Richard M. Berman to give his ruling. He will announce a ruling as early as Tuesday and no later than Friday, and is currently putting the final touches to his decision.
Berman has been pushing for a settlement since the case began, shortly after Goodell upheld the suspension following Brady’s appeal. If Berman reverses the league decision, Brady will have enough time to prepare for the new season. He has taken part in preseason games and training camp.
The judge has also been mostly critical of the league during the hearings, citing weaknesses in the way the NFL handled the controversy and suggested that the league’s finding was too vague, that Brady was generally aware that game balls were being deflated.