Brady suspended, Patriots fined and docked picks

For their roles in DeflateGate as well as their lack of full cooperation, the NFL has laid down the hammer of justice on the New England Patriots.

Tom Brady has been suspended for the first 4 games of the NFL regular season.

The Patriots are fined $1million and will lose their 2016 first round and 2017 fourth round picks.

If you've been living under a rock for a while, here is a quick recap. Apparently the Baltimore Ravens helped clue the Indianapolis Colts that the Patriots might have had deflated balls. The Colts then informed the league, who tested the balls at halftime to find that there were major discrepancies between the allowable limit and what the balls the Patriots were using. During the Ted Wells investigation, it was determined that members of the Patriots staff had illegally tampered with the balls and that Tom Brady "more than likely was aware".

One of the biggest issues about the whole ordeal was the Patriots' and Tom Brady's unwillingness to cooperate completely in the investigation. No doubt the fines, suspension and loss of picks are in good portion because of this. This suspension will have major effect on the AFC playoff race as the Patriots will be missing one of their biggest weapons for a quarter of the season, while playing the Pittsburgh Steelers in week 1. Going further, the Patriots will be in some trouble with the draft by missing out on the first round next season and a mid rounder the season after.

Be sure that the Patriots and Tom Brady will likely move forward with appeal of this punishment in the coming days. However, based on the information at hand, the NFL will likely have their punishments upheld.