Tom Brady could end up serving suspension in 2016

Tom Brady's appeal hearing is tomorrow, and no one really knows which direction it'll go. The consensus is that commissioner Roger Goodell will cut Brady's suspension from four games to two, and then Brady will sue the league because he wants to be completely exonerated.

If that's what the outcome is, Brady might be available for all of 2015 and could miss some time in 2016. Per Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk:

There’s also a chance Brady won’t miss any games this year. If the lower court rules against him and he persuades an appeals court to continue to prevent the NFL from suspending him until the case is final, Brady eventually would miss games not in 2015 but in 2016.

Obviously, the Patriots want Brady out there in Week 1 against the Steelers. The absolute worst-case scenario in all of this is that if he takes the NFL to court and he doesn't get his suspension wiped out entirely, he could miss games in the latter part of 2015.

Florio points out that as per Article 46 of the Collective Bargaining Agreement, a decision on Brady's sentence should be issues "as soon as practicable," but that might not mean it'll be right away.

Stay with Patriots Life all throughout tomorrow and the 25th if necessary, as we'll bring you the latest with Brady's appeal as it happens.

Follow me on Twitter - @JesseGaunce

For more of my articles, click here.