The New England Patriots have no chance of recouping the draft picks that they lost last year as a result of the Deflategate sanctions against them.
Speaking to reporters at the NFL owners meetings on Wednesday, commissioner Roger Goodell acknowledged that he received a letter from Patriots owner Robert Kraft asking for the picks back but said the request will not be granted.
Goodell says he hasn’t received any new information that would lead him to give the #Patriots their first round pick back
— Ben Volin (@BenVolin) March 23, 2016
On Tuesday, Kraft revealed that he reached out to Goodell at the end of the 2015 season to ask him to consider new information in reevaluating the sanctions against the Pats. Considering the NFL is still fighting in court to have Tom Brady’s four-game suspension upheld, there was virtually no chance Goodell was going to do the Patriots any favors.
Kraft admitted he made a major mistake when he accepted the loss of draft picks and the biggest fine against a team in NFL history. He believed accepting the penalty against the team might inspire Goodell to reduce or overturn Brady’s suspension, but that did not happen. Kraft later unloaded on Goodell and apologized to Patriots fans.
