The NFL Players Association is expected to contest the results of Tom Brady's appeal in federal court if any of the New England Patriots quarterback's four-game suspension remains, union sources told ABC News' Ryan Smith.
If Brady's suspension is lifted when commissioner Roger Goodell announces his ruling and he is fined instead, the quarterback will decide whether to challenge the decision in court.
If the NFLPA does challenge the appeal verdict in court, it will argue:
• The ball-deflation policy was incorrectly applied to Brady, as the rules were meant for club personnel and not players.
• Against the "general awareness" standard used by Ted Wells' investigators to determine Brady's involvement.
• If it is determined the ball-deflation policy did apply to Brady, the league failed to give him notice of the penalty, in essence making up the punishment with precedent.
• The NFL doesn't have proper techniques and standards for measuring deflation of footballs.
• Goodell should have recused himself as the arbitrator for Brady's appeal hearing.
The commissioner said last week that he expected to have a ruling soon, possibly sometime this week.
In addition to Brady's four-game suspension, the Patriots were fined $1 million and stripped of a 2016 first-round draft choice and 2017 fourth-round selection as a result of the Wells report. Patriots owner Robert Kraft said at the owners meetings in May that he "reluctantly" accepted the team's portion of the penalty.
