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At least for right now, The Patriots will be without their #1 guy due to the 4-game suspension just handed out to Tom Brady by the NFL earlier today.

In addition to Brady's suspension, The Patriots will be fined $1 million and are being forced to give up two future draft picks, including their first-round pick in 2016. The statement from the NFL is available here: http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap3000000492190/article/nfl-releases-statement-on-patriots-violations.

This has been the big story for a few weeks now, and indeed the NFL did not back down despite many pundits thinking that the penalties incurred would be more slight (similar to past repercussions that violated NFL policies, such as Spygate and the Chargers use of Stickum). Players have indirectly admitted to NFL policy violations for years but when cases such as this one become very high profile (and considering the extra-bright spotlight that the NFL has been under after this past season's events), they have started to crack down more heavily.

From my perspective, this seems like a little too steep of a penalty for the crime (proportionately), but let's not rule out some kind of appeal that could bring this to more of a middle ground. Regardless, I'm sure we'll all hear quite a bit of debate about this on radio and television sports programs. So get ready for that. I guess it will also give us another window to see how far along Jimmy Garoppolo is in his development under Brady.