Whether it’s Bountygate, Spygate, or now Deflategate, it has gotten hard to keep up with all of the NFL’s various scandals. NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell has become famous for his heavy-handed punishments, but the question is whether any of his punishments are legally binding. Tom Brady certainly does not think so, which is why according to a report by ESPN’s Adam Schefter, Tom Brady has retained Winston Strawn’s Jeff Kessler, who has a made a very lucrative career out of sticking it to the NFL.

I started emailing yesterday with my pal Steph Stradley, who is a lawyer, a blogger for the Houston Chronicle, has written for Sports Illustrated’s the MMQB, and maintains a legal blog as well. Steph is as plugged in as anyone to the NFL, is regularly interviewed and quoted by media outlets on issues of sports law and business, and I wanted her to help me make sense of the fines/suspensions. But rather than keeping this fun exchange all to ourselves, we decided to publish the exchange right here on ATL. And just to be clear, as you’re following this exchange, keep in mind that neither of us particularly like the New England Patriots.

Zach Abramowitz is a former Biglaw associate and currently CEO and co-founder of ReplyAll. You can follow Zach on Twitter (@zachabramowitz) or reach him by email at zach@replyall.me.