Judge Urges Tom Brady And NFL To Reach Settlement In Deflategate Lawsuit

If the two parties do not come to a settlement Wednesday, they will reconvene on Aug. 19 for a second settlement conference.

USA Today Sports / Reuters

In the first meeting between the NFL and the NFLPA to try to settle a lawsuit regarding Tom Brady's four-game suspension, Manhattan federal court Judge Richard Berman urged both parties to reach an agreement in the Deflategate saga, according to the New York Daily news.

Berman told Brady and NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell in open court Wednesday that there were strengths and weaknesses on both sides of the argument. The judge will be meeting with Brady and Goodell separately in private. Berman asked both sides to keep working toward a settlement, though it is unlikely that Brady would take a settlement that implied guilt on his end.

The judge asked NFL lawyer Daniel Nash a series of questions on the evidence used in the Wells Report.

"Is there any direct evidence linking Mr. Brady to tampering?" Berman asked Nash according to the Daily News, pointing out that the Patriots quarterback performed better with higher inflated balls than he did with underinflated balls.

"Is there a text in which Mr. Brady instructs someone to put a needle in the football? No, there is not such direct evidence," Nash responded.

The judge later questioned Brady's attorney, Jeffrey Kessler, asking him why the quarterback did not cooperate with the Wells investigation, with respect to providing his text messages.

Kessler cited privacy concerns, but ultimately conceded that Brady should have conducted himself differently, according to the Daily News.

If the two parties do not come to a settlement Wednesday, they will reconvene on August 19 for a second settlement conference. If no agreement is reached then, judge Berman will issue a decision by September 4, six days before the New England Patriots kick off the season with a game against the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Brady's suspension was handed down in May after the NFL determined that Brady was at least "likely aware" of two locker room attendants' alleged intentional deflating of game-use footballs. The league made the determination following an analysis by an "independent investigator" it had hired.

The star quarterback appealed the suspension, but NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell refused to recuse himself as sole determinant of the appeal. After a 10-hour hearing in late July, Goodell upheld Brady's four game .

In a statement following that ruling, the NFL said that Brady had "destroyed" his cell phone instead of turning it over to investigators, and that had influenced the decision to uphold the suspension.

Patriots owner Robert Kraft spoke out after the ruling saying that said he was "wrong to put his faith in the league," and criticized the NFL's handling of the entire incident.

The NFL Player's Association filed a lawsuit against the NFL for their handling of Brady's appeal in late July, after the NFL upheld the suspension. The lawsuit was originally filed in Minnesota, where the NFLPA has had success winning labor disputes (Adrian Peterson, specifically), but the NFL filed a preliminary motion in Manhattan, and the suit was moved to New York.

The Minnesota court accused the NFLPA of court shopping, and said there was no legitimate basis for Brady to file a lawsuit in their state.

The NFL tried to get all transcripts from the 10-hour hearing to be kept under seal but a Manhattan judge declined that request and in early August the documents were released to the public. The NFLPA has now posted the documents on their website.

Throughout the last seven months, the Patriots have asserted that the NFL has been using shaky science and evidence to make their case. In fact, a report that multiple footballs were under-inflated by as much as 2 psi was retracted last week.