New England Patriots Rumors: Tom Brady’s Suspension Could Be Pushed Out Of 2015 Entirely

The New England Patriots may be getting a reprieve on Tom Brady’s discipline, with rumors indicating that NFL commissioner Roger Goodell may hold off on suspending the All Pro quarterback this season.

Brady was handed a four-game ban for his role in the DeflateGate scandal, with a report from investigator Ted Well finding that Brady likely knew or played some role in the intentional deflating of footballs to below league standards.

Brady has appealed to the league to lessen or eliminate the suspension, but so far, no word has come back on when that could happen.

Goodell said there is no time frame involved with the punishment, but said it will come “quickly.”

“We are focused on it,” Goodell said, according to TribLive. “We are obviously being very thorough and want to make sure we consider all aspects of his appeal. We will make a decision as quickly as possible.”

But now, there are rumors that the New England Patriots may not lose Tom Brady in 2015 at all. Peter King of the MMQB said he believes Roger Goodell’s timeline could wait an entire year before handing down punishment to Brady. This would seem to contradict Goodell’s own vow to announce a ruling quickly, but King believes it would allow time for a more thorough assessment of just how much balls deflate before and during games.

The following quote is from Pro Football Talk.

“As explained by King on Monday’s PFT Live on NBC Sports Radio — and as he said in his latest Monday Morning Quarterback column — the NFL should defer any punishment of quarterback Tom Brady until then, too.

I think it takes a leader to stand up and say, ‘We’re going to be measuring the air pressure in football for the first time ever this season, before and during and after games. And this is too important an issue to not have all the evidence in-house before we make a ruling.’

The question is whether Commissioner Roger Goodell will be that leader, or whether he’ll feel compelled to justify the conclusions of the multi-million-dollar Ted Wells investigation by validating the report on which the suspension was based.”

These are not the only rumors indicating that the New England Patriots could have Tom Brady under center to start the 2015 season. Other reports claim that Brady is already preparing a federal lawsuit against the NFL, one that could push his suspension back months.

[Picture by Getty Images]