Report: Ray Rice could be reinstated by NFL within a month

Could Ray Rice play in the NFL again this season? While the former Baltimore Ravens running back is not on an NFL roster and is still serving his indefinite suspension, Jason La Canfora of CBSSports.com reports that there’s a chance Rice could be reinstated within the next four weeks.

The NFL is currently conducting its own investigation into the league’s handling of the Rice case, but that investigation is independent from Rice’s appeal hearing. Rice’s appeal is set to be heard in November, and there’s a good chance his playing status will be resolved immediately after.

Of course, Rice would have to win his appeal in order to be reinstated. According to La Canfora, legal experts believe Rice has a very strong case. The 27-year-old has maintained that he did not lie to NFL commissioner Roger Goodell when he was arrested for domestic violence. His legal team will argue that Goodell and company knew exactly what was on the elevator tape and decided to suspend him two games, so there is no reason the punishment should have changed when TMZ released the video of Rice knocking out his then-fiancee Janay Palmer.

Former U.S. District Court Judge Barbara S. Jones, a neutral third-party arbitrator, is handling Rice’s appeal. If Jones believes that the NFL had no way of obtaining the tape, she’ll be part of a very small minority. There is reason to believe a copy of the elevator video was sent to the NFL league offices back in April. Despite that, NFL officials still maintain that they never watched the footage.

The overwhelming majority of people believe one of two things regarding the Rice case — either NFL officials saw the tape, or they knew what was on it and chose not to view it. In either scenario, Rice could argue that he told the truth. Even under the NFL’s new domestic violence policy, a first-time offender would receive a six-game suspension. Rice has already served that.

If Jones decides to reinstate Rice, he could be eligible to sign with a team by Week 10. Will any NFL team be willing to deal with the negative publicity that comes along with signing him? My guess is no, though I wouldn’t rule out Rice playing next season when the incident isn’t as fresh on everyone’s mind.