NFL offered Tom Brady two games for a guilty admission

FOXBOROUGH, Mass., July 29 (UPI) -- The NFL was in the business of making deals before it upheld its decision to uphold Tom Brady's four game suspension.

According to Pro Football Talk, a source said that the league was willing to lower the suspension "at least 50 percent" if Brady either "admitted to having knowledge of whatever John Jastremski and Jim McNally were doing to the footballs, admitted to failing to cooperate with the Ted Wells investigation and apologized."

After dropping to two games, Brady's suspension could have even been reduced to one, according to the source. But the future hall of fame quarterback is driven to take the league to court to get the suspension cleared completely. If Brady fails to erase his suspension, he could be facing the prospect of missed games in the latter months of the season, instead of just the first four games.

On Tuesday, NFL commissioner Roger Goodell upheld his own May ruling, including the games and a $1 million penalty, to Brady for his role in DeflateGate.

The Patriots face the Pittsburgh Steelers, Buffalo Bills, Jacksonville Jaguars, and Dallas Cowboys in its first four games of the season.