Albert Breer of NFL Media (on Twitter) hears that the parties in the August 12th Tom Brady settlement conference may be able to participate by phone, but that they’ll have to present a good reason for doing so. Mike Florio of PFT, a former lawyer, advises that Brady get himself to Manhattan as a sign of respect to the federal judge. Florio writes that not flying to Manhattan alone won’t mean a loss in court for Brady, but it could affect the proceedings in other ways. Here’s more from the AFC East..
- The Jets obviously can’t get much for him now, but Sheldon Richardson could be a valuable trade piece after the 2015 season, Darryl Slater of the Star-Ledger writes. The final year of Richardson’s rookie deal is in 2016, but he can be kept under control through 2017 with a fifth-year option at a relatively cheap rate. For now, the Jets will have to wait and see if Richardon’s four-game suspension for marijuana is about to balloon into something bigger after last week’s bizarre incident.
- Veteran Ryan Fitzpatrick has virtually no chance of overtaking Geno Smith for the Jets‘ starting QB job this summer, Mark Cannizzaro of the New York Post writes. Of course, if Smith falters for the first few weeks of the season, the door will be open for the Harvard product.
- Calvin Pryor didn’t impress in his rookie season with the Jets, but a position change could be the key to unlocking his potential, Brian Costello of the New York Post writes. The Louisville product is now playing strong safety instead of free safety, which means that he can concentrate on laying down the big hits.
- In the battle of Patriots QB vs. Roger Goodell, Gary Tanguay of CSNNE.com feels that the law is on the side of the commissioner, which is why Brady should take a settlement on his suspension, if possible.