The New England Patriots haven't given up on getting back their 2016 first-round draft pick. Â
Patriots owner Robert Kraft said Monday that he sent a letter to NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell a month ago asking for the NFL to overturn the penalties related to last year's deflated football scandal.Â
An NFL source told NFL Media's Judy Battista, however, there is "zero chance" the Patriots will get their first-round pick back.
"I personally wrote a letter to the Commissioner responding to his comment that if any new facts came up he would take them into consideration. I personally believe that when the league made their decision they did not factor in the ideal gas law. They admitted that publicly last year," Kraft told a group of reporters Monday at the Annual League Meeting in Boca Raton, Florida.
Kraft said he "prays and desires" the Patriots get the draft pick back and sounded like he understood it was a long shot. After all, the league is still battling Tom Brady in court. Arguments were heard earlier this month regarding the league's appeal of a lower court's decision to vacate the four-game suspension Goodell imposed on the Patriots quarterback.
But Kraft is still holding out some hope that new information could help his case.
"They had a full year of being able to observe Tom Brady play with all the rules of whatever the NFL was and make any judgments. We laid it out pretty straight forward and now it's up to them to decide," Kraft said. "We've done everything we can do and actually I want our fans to know that I empathize with the way they feel. We have put our best case forward and that's in the league's hands now."
