NEXT QUESTION
What to expect from Deflate Gate and answers to a few other 2015 issues
Sources say Tom Brady’s marathon appeal hearing will be ending any minute as Maxwell Smart finishes detailing why the Ideal Gas Law had nothing to do with the Patriots’ deflated footballs but was in fact the reason Pete Carroll didn’t give the ball to Marshawn Lynch at the end of the Super Bowl.
Now that the offseason programs are over, the only down time in the NFL calendar will be briefly interrupted when Roger Goodell issues his Brady ruling sometime before the Patriots report to camp on July 29.
To keep NFL fans engaged, in the event they’re suffering from withdrawal in the absence of all those breathless reports from minicamp, we offer this challenge: Correctly guess the number of knuckleheads arrested before the first training camp practice and win a chance to hang out with the media for 11 hours outside the league’s Park Ave. office, when the player who commits the most egregious infraction shows up with his legal team to appeal his suspension.
Anyway, here are the top 10 questions to think about on the beach before Tom Coughlin barks at the first question in camp regarding the timetable for Odell Beckham to get on the field.
Q: When will Goodell inform Brady if his four-game suspension sticks or if it’s been reduced to one, two, three or no games?
A: I think the earliest is the week of July 6. Goodell owes it to the Patriots to let them know before they open camp — which will be just over six months since this whole fiasco began — if Bill Belichick must get Jimmy Garoppolo ready to start the Sept. 10 opener against the Steelers. By the way, there were three legal teams at the Brady hearing on the NFL’s behalf: its own outside counsel, investigator Ted Wells’ firm and a firm brought in to defend Wells’ report. The Wells report cost the NFL an astounding $5 million, and when you factor in the billable hours from three firms after the 10-hour hearing — plus a one-hour lunch break — it’s enough to feed a small country.
Q: What will the embattled commissioner come up with?
A: It’s all about finding a compromise and Goodell admitting that suspending Brady for 25% of the season based on circumstantial evidence may not have been exactly fair. Brady is so determined not to let something he insists he didn’t do taint his legacy that anything less than complete vindication will likely lead him to court. But if Goodell reduces Brady’s suspension to two games and absolves him of blame but still disciplines him for not cooperating with Wells, the issue becomes: Can Robert Kraft, who sent in an impassioned defense of Brady’s character to the hearing in an affidavit, convince his QB to take one for the team so the Pats can defend their championship without this hanging over them all season?
Q: What could be the end game here?
A: I don’t think the NFLPA will be disappointed if Brady takes this to court as the union views it as an opportunity to strip Goodell of his power outlined in the CBA to be the hearing officer on appeals. The union bailed on that issue in the negotiations in 2011 during the lockout. The commissioner has had final say going back to the first CBA in 1968.
Q: Can Russell Wilson be the Jets quarterback in 2016?
A: He’s going into the final year of his four-year, $3 million deal that pays him just $1.5 million. He’s the biggest bargain in sports. Negotiations have not been going well. Wilson, the only QB to get his team to the Super Bowl twice in his first three years, is surely looking for the next $100 million contract.
If Wilson doesn’t have a new deal by the franchise tag deadline next year, the Seahawks will surely apply it. If they give him the more expensive exclusive tag, he won’t be able to negotiate with other teams. If they give him the non-exclusive tag, Wilson can solicit offers, the Seahawks would retain the right of first refusal and if they don’t match, they will receive two No. 1 picks.
Ultimately, I think Wilson and the ’Hawks will work out a longterm contract. Their owner, Paul Allen, is one of the richest men in the world, and Seattle has benefitted from Wilson’s minimal cap charges for his first four seasons. But if Seattle has to tag him and uses the nonexclusive one, then Woody Johnson must allow Mike Maccagnan to blow Seattle away with a very creative offer sheet. Of course, if the Jets had listened three years ago to former personnel executive Terry Bradway, who loved Wilson so much his nickname in the office was practice field is heartwarming enough. I think Tebow will beat out Matt Barkley for the No. 3 job with Kelly using him as a twopoint specialist and novelty act. Q: Did the Broncos really talk about trading Peyton Manning before he agreed to a $4 million pay cut from his $19 million salary? A: More likely, the Texans may have called Denver to see if Manning was available, which doesn’t mean John Elway ever had any interest in dealing him. Elway and the Broncos deny they ever considered trading him. The Texans’ interest would make sense since they had Ryan Mallett before signing Brian Hoyer, a couple of former Brady backups, and Manning did have the Texans on his list when he was a free agent in 2012. Curiously, Manning had a no-trade clause inserted in his contract when he renegotiated in March. According to a report in Denver last week, the Broncos initially asked Manning to take a $10 million pay cut this season.
Q: What’s next in the Race To Los Angeles?
A: The league will hold a special meeting Aug. 11 in Chicago to update owners. The NFL has been without a franchise in Los Angeles since the Rams and Raiders both moved in 1994. But it’s a virtual certainty there will be two teams in Hollywood next year. I think it will be the Rams and Chargers. St. Louis is far ahead of San Diego and Oakland trying to get a stadium plan finalized, but Rams owner Stan Kroenke already has one foot out the door. Raiders owner Mark Davis seems sincere that he wants to stay put but has gotten nowhere with Oakland. The Chargers have thrown up so many road blocks in San Diego that it seems they have every intention of getting out.
Q: How reliable is the NFL Network’s list of the Top 100 players?
A: The players do the voting, and the results are further evidence why it’s the media that’s in charge of the All-Pro and Hall of Fame votes. Tony Romo is No.34 and Eli Manning is not on the list? Romo has won two playoff games. Manning has won two Super Bowls. The QBs on the list so far: Wilson (22), Ben Roethlisberger (26), Drew Brees (30), Romo, Philip Rivers (43), Cam Newton (73), Matt Ryan (77), Joe Flacco (97). Brady, Aaron Rodgers, Peyton Manning and Andrew Luck are obviously in the top 20. So that means Eli Manning’s peers, at the very least, don’t think he’s one of the top 12 QBs in the league even though Brady is the only active QB with more Super Bowl rings. Brady has four; Eli and Roethlisberger are next with two.
Q: How long before Belichick regrets not meeting Darrelle Revis’ price?
A: As soon as Big Ben tosses a 60-yard TD over the head of Malcolm Butler, Bradley Fletcher or Logan Ryan on Sept. 10 — or Brady does it to them on the first day of camp. “Russell,” they would have found a way to draft him before Seattle took him two spots ahead of them in the third round.
Q: What happens if Belichick’s drones take a wrong turn and start hovering over Jets camp practices in Florham Park?
A: Well, at least they won’t be colliding with the Fire Idzik airplanes, which are back in the hangar.
Q: Who’s missing from the Eagles quarterback competition?
A: It’s surprising Chip Kelly didn’t sign the retired Greg McElroy once he added the retired Tim Tebow to go along with Mark Sanchez. He could have had all the Jets’ QBs from 2012. If Sam Bradford is healthy, he will start, but after tearing his left ACL in each of the last two years, he can’t be counted on. By the time the Eagles play the Jets at MetLife in the third game of the season, Sanchez could be starting, backed up by Tebow. Just the sight of these two buddies reuniting on the