The NFL and Tom Brady are battling in federal court at the moment over whether or not the four-game suspension levied by Roger Goodell should in fact be enforced.
Brady has fully denied his involvement in any Deflategate shenanigans to this point, and the findings of the league's investigation show no hard evidence that Brady had anything to do with the tampering of footballs.
The judge in the case has urged the sides to settle the lawsuit, but after Brady and Goodell met on Tuesday, no progress was made, and lawyers for the two sides will be back in court on Wednesday.
The longer this drags on, the closer we get to the start of the NFL season, which means that Brady could be forced to serve some or all of his suspension if the case is still being deliberated when that day comes. Perhaps that is the reason behind his reported willingness to now accept some form of a suspension, according to ESPN's Adam Schefter.
Tom Brady is open to accepting some form of suspension, but only if it can be for failing to cooperate with the NFL rather than admitting to the Wells' Report findings, per league sources. The NFL has been adamant that Brady admits to the report's findings, something he doesn't seem willing to ever do. With that in mind, settlement discussions have gone "nowhere", according to sources, and the two sides are back in court today.
This is semantics, obviously, because a suspension is a suspension, and everyone would know the reason why. But in the unlikely event that the league were to agree to a reduced suspension on Brady's terms, it would allow him to maintain at least some semblance of innocence.
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