The courts are sort of screwed if they have to make a ruling. On the one hand, if they side with the league, they look heartless and perhaps in with the billion dollar baby that is the corporate NFL machine. On the other, if they side with Brady it's kind of wrong from a technical standpoint and creates mounds of headaches for courts at every level in the future.

Thing is, neither Brady nor Goodell have any incentive to really settle at this point. Any relenting from the league (allowing Brady to keep his charade about being ignorant to the whole plot) means all the shit they had to eat in the media was for naught. As for Brady, it's more about his legacy than the four games, so he can't admit to anything in any deal.

When you look at it, and knowing that mostly only Patriots fans will really be pissed if the courts side with the league, you kind of get a sense where this is headed. And again, Brady still wins by losing, because he gets to point to the vehemence of his defense (and not taking the deal) as proof that he's innocent. Even though everyone knows he was totally in on the whole thing, there's no hard proof.