The NFL has given Tom Brady an ultimatum, it appears. But it's one that would require Brady to go back on testimony he provided under oath.
According to ESPN, the league has told Brady and his team that there will be no settlement unless Brady accepts the findings of the Wells report.
Brady, of course, said during an appeal hearing in June that he had no knowledge of any wrongdoing as it pertained to the handling of Patriots footballs. Accepting the Wells report, which claimed that Brady was at least "generally aware" of a football-tampering scheme, would mean Brady would have to contradict the stance he took under oath.
That's not likely to happen any time soon, obviously, so the settlement conference held in Manhattan on Wednesday perhaps comes at a good time. Both Brady and NFL commissioner Roger Goodell met with judge Richard Berman to give an update on how the talks have progressed at 10:30 a.m. Since it appears as though the settlement talks have not advanced all that much, Berman will have an opportunity to pressure both sides to come to an agreement.
Both Brady and Goodell -- Brady about five minutes after Goodell -- arrived to a Southern District of New York court on Wednesday morning well before their meeting with Berman. At 11 a.m. a hearing is scheduled to start in order to help resolve the matter before an agreed-upon Sept. 4 deadline.