The New England Patriots are mired in a tough situation with Deflategate and now Tom Brady will take center stage after Bill Belichick denied knowing about the deflated balls against the Colts in a press conference and this comes as the team could consider releasing Danny Amendola this offseason and replacing him with Larry Fitzgerald if he is cut loose by the Cardinals.
Bill Belichick addressed the media ahead of Brady on Thursday and he denied any advanced knowledge about the deflated balls. According to ESPN.com, Belichick said he was shocked about what happened when he found out about it and that he has not explanation about how it happened. Belichick appeared to deflect blame to Brady, as he said that the QB would know better about how he likes to have the balls feel in his hand. Belichick has been under heavy fire leading up to this and until the NFL releases some official information, that will continue.
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Some have suggested that the Patriots have been doing this all season, as Pro Football Talk reports that the Colts noticed deflated balls when the teams played in the regular season. Belichick alluded to the fact that the balls may have been at the regulation line and then the weather pushed them just below the threshold, but no information has been released yet by the NFL about what happened.
Brady is set to speak about the deflated balls and now he is the person that could have some answers. Brady laughed off the claims on Monday, but reports have come out since then of him on the record saying he likes softer footballs. The NFL found that 11 of the 12 game balls used by the Patriots was under inflated and that was reported by Chris Mortensen. Brady could take a big hit in his reputation if this turns out to be true and Belichick has a ton riding on the result of all this.
The Patriots won big over the Colts on Sunday and while many have cited that as a reason why this has been overblown, many are saying that cheating is cheating. The NFL has rules for a reason and now Brady will have to answer questions on that. The NFL likely will not hand out punishment until after the Super Bowl, but everyone will be watching closely.
The team is into the Super Bowl, but they have offseason concerns as well and they likely will be releasing Danny Amendola, according to ESPN.com. At ESPN Boston, Mike Reiss writes that Amendola likely will be gone for 2015, as he is making a decent amount of money and is a player the Pats think they can replace. Last season Amendola had just 27 catches in 16 games and that was his lowest total in a non-injury season since he was a rookie and that could lead to a split for the two sides.
Amendola has a $4 million salary and that likely will lead him elsewhere in 2015. Reiss writes that Larry Fitzgerald could be a target if he is released by the Cardinals, as he could fit in with Belichick and what the Pats offense does with Tom Brady.
