SAN FRANCISCO -- When New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft agreed to accept the NFL's penalty for underinflated footballs Tuesday, one line of thinking was that perhaps it was done with quarterback Tom Brady's four-game suspension in mind. Specifically, maybe the league would reduce or overturn the suspension as a result of Kraft ending the fight.
But in further discussions with team and league officials at the NFL's spring meeting, I'd be surprised if the two are related.
In the end, I think Kraft's decision was mostly about feeling he had reached a point that he could no longer win. Appealing the team's penalty to commissioner Roger Goodell was viewed as a dead end, while taking the issue to court was never seriously considered once initial emotions cooled, because it would forever change Kraft's standing in league circles and he didn't want that.
This brings us to Brady's appeal.
In giving Brady a four-game suspension, the feeling among some in league circles is that Goodell provided himself wiggle room to reduce it to two games on appeal if he feels it's warranted. It's hard to imagine he'd go much further than that.
But whether Brady would accept a two-game suspension, or instead continue the fight in court in an attempt to reduce it to zero, is another layer to consider. To Brady, whose legacy is affected by any decision, this very well could be an all-or-nothing type deal.
