National Football League

Report: Decision on Brady appeal at least a month away

Published Jun. 25, 2015 12:00 a.m. ET

foxsports

By Pat Bradley

A decision on New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady’s Deflategate suspension appeal likely won’t come before next weekend at the earliest, according to NFL.com.

NFL insider Ian Rapoport reported Wednesday that post-hearing briefs are due next week, which means NFL commissioner Roger Goodell will still need time to process those briefs once he receives them.

“As for what happens next, post-hearing briefs are due next week,” Rapoport said on “NFL Total Access” Wednesday. “Roger Goodell is going to look over them, and those may take a couple weeks, so nothing is imminent.

“As far as a target date, the hope from people involved is that by the start of training camp, about a month from now, the Patriots will know (the answer to) ‘Will Tom Brady be on the field for the opener?'”

It’s not an ideal situation for New England or its fans, both of whom likely want to know whether the quarterback will be playing in the season opener sooner than the start of training camp. But on the bright side, it looks like the NFL isn’t going to drag this out longer than it needs to and wants to have a decision in time for New England to be able to prepare for life — or a game, at least — without Brady.

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