Robert Kraft and Tom Brady livid over Goodell’s upholding of Brady’s 4-Game suspension:

To say that Robert Kraft is unhappy with the league’s decision to uphold Tom Brady’s 4-game suspension would be an understatement. Despite Brady’s refusal to cooperate, Kraft was shocked by Goodell’s decision.

“The decision handed down by the league yesterday is unfathomable by me,” Kraft said in a statement during his statement to the media.

While Kraft has been steadfast in his support of Brady and his assertion that no wrong doing had been done, Wednesday’s comments were the first that cast a lot of doubt, and even accusations of improper motives at the league office.

“Yesterday’s decision by Commissioner Goodell was released in a similar matter, under an erroneous headline that read: ‘Tom Brady destroyed his cell phone,'” he said. “This headline was designed to capture headlines across the country and obscure evidence regarding the tampering of air pressure in footballs. It intentionally implied nefarious behavior and minimized the acknowledgement that Tom provided the history of every number he texted during that relevant time frame and we had already provided the league with every cell phone of every non-NFL PA employee that they requested, including head coach Bill Belichick.

“Tom Brady is a person of great integrity and a great ambassador of the game, both on and off the field. Yet for reasons that I cannot comprehend there are those in the league office who are more determined to prove that they were right rather than admit any culpability of their own or take any responsibility for the initiation of the process and the ensuing investigation that was flawed.”

While some roll their eyes at Kraft’s staunch denial that the Patriots did anything wrong because of Brady’s lack of cooperation and the text messages outlined in the Wells’ report, which make it pretty clear that ball pressure was certainly discussed, at least by Patriots staff, Kraft’s best point was made when he brought up the league’s propensity to reduce suspensions in other situations where there is a lot more proof of the offense.

“It is routine for discipline in the NFL to be reduced upon appeal. In the vast majority of these cases there is tangible and hard evidence of the infraction for which the discipline is being imposed and still the initial penalty gets reduced. Six months removed from the AFC Championship game, the league still has no hard evidence of anybody doing anything to tamper with the psi level of footballs.”

Kraft is in part livid because he believed accepting the team penalties instead of fighting them would persuade the league to be more lenient in Brady’s case. That assumption was pretty naïve, and Kraft now feels he was duped, and made a mistake by accepting the league’s fine and docking of a first-round draft pick.

“I truly believe what I did in May, given the actual evidence of this situation and the league’s history on discipline matters, would make it much easier for the league to exonerate Tom Brady. Unfortunately, I was wrong.”

It’s hard to wrap your head around how Kraft would believe that accepting the penalties handed down to the Patriots, which is kin to an admission of guilt, would exonerate the person at the center of the investigation.

Brady also made a statement on Wednesday, stepping up to a keyboard and making a statement through Facebook, instead of at a podium. Brady once again stated his belief that he and nobody within the Patriots organization did anything wrong.

“I am very disappointed by the NFL’s decision to uphold the 4 game suspension against me. I did nothing wrong, and no one in the Patriots organization did either.

“Despite submitting to hours of testimony over the past 6 months, it is disappointing that the Commissioner upheld my suspension based upon a standard that it was “probable” that I was “generally aware” of misconduct. The fact is that neither I, nor any equipment person, did anything of which we have been accused. He dismissed my hours of testimony and it is disappointing that he found it unreliable.”

A large part of the league’s announcement, and reasoning for upholding Brady’s suspension is the assertion that Brady destroyed his cell phone to hide evidence before meeting with Ted Wells. Brady took aim at that part of the league’s statement as part of his Facebook defense.

“I also disagree with yesterdays narrative surrounding my cellphone. I replaced my broken Samsung phone with a new iPhone 6 AFTER my attorneys made it clear to the NFL that my actual phone device would not be subjected to investigation under ANY circumstances. As a member of a union, I was under no obligation to set a new precedent going forward, nor was I made aware at any time during Mr. Wells investigation, that failing to subject my cell phone to investigation would result in ANY discipline.

“Most importantly, I have never written, texted, emailed to anybody at anytime, anything related to football air pressure before this issue was raised at the AFC Championship game in January. To suggest that I destroyed a phone to avoid giving the NFL information it requested is completely wrong.”

Kraft and Brady’s comments make it clear that this thing is far from over, unfortunately.

Redskins ink Ryan Kerrigan to 5-year extension:

It seems very few Washington Redskins decisions work out. Certainly, few decisions in the nation’s capital (football or otherwise) work out as well as Ryan Kerrigan. On a team loaded with draft picks who have underperformed, had trouble staying healthy or both, Kerrigan has been steady and productive, and hasn’t missed a start in his NFL career.

Kerrigan has started every game for the Redskins since the team drafted him in the first-round in 2011, and he’s very excited he’s in a position to play out the remainder of his career with the team that brought him into the league.

“To get to a moment like this where you get a chance to play out the rest of your NFL career with the team that drafted you, the team that you love, the city that you love, it hasn’t really hit me yet, but it’s an awesome feeling,” Kerrigan said, via Redskins.com. “Now it’s my job to go reward the Redskins for the faith they put in me by playing well this year, and for the rest of my career.”

Kerrigan’s new deal will make him the third-highest paid outside linebacker in football after Justin Houston and Clay Matthews. Kerrigan has had at least 7.5 sacks in each of his NFL seasons, but last year’s 13.5 was a career high, and the first time Kerrigan recorded double-digit sack numbers.

 Jeremy Mincey a no-show at Cowboys camp:

Dallas Cowboys defensive end Jeremy Mincey has decided to hold out in hopes of getting a new deal from the Cowboys that only lends itself to one question. Really?

Mincey, who has 11 sacks over his last three seasons combined, and has never recorded more than 8 sacks in a single season, is holding out.

Even if the Cowboys hadn’t signed Greg Hardy or drafted Randy Gregory, it seems unlikely the team would respond to Mincey’s hold out by offering him a new deal. Mincey is a good defensive end, but not the kind of player you bend over backwards for when he makes this kind of move.

For now, it sounds like the Cowboys will respond by fining the seven-year veteran until he decides to show up for work. Mincey can be fined $30,000 per missed practice.

“I think it is (disappointing), he is a player who is under contract and we expect all players under contract to be here,” Executive vice president Stephen Jones said Wednesday. “Jeremy obviously did a great job for us last year, he was a big part of the success on the defensive part of the football and we have nothing but respect for him, but he is under contract, I think he signed that contract last year, his representative was there, he was all for it and he signed it.

“It’s not a long term contract, it’s over at the end of this year, but we fully expect him to be here and if he’s not obviously there is recourse for us as well, in terms of there will be fines accordingly if he misses camp. It is disappointing, we expect him to be here and we want him to be here.”

Seriously Jeremy, just get to work, because this isn’t going to get you any more cash.