AP

Even though the NFL waited to issue a ruling on #DeflateGate before the Patriots visited the White House, President Barack Obama found a way to poke fun at the team absent a recent reminder of the scandal.

Now, the wait for a report from Ted Wells and a ruling from the league office can resume.

With the draft a week away, it remains unknown whether closure will come before the process of making picks begin. Some in league circles think that, whenever it ends, the Patriots will be cleared of any wrongdoing, given the absence of clear evidence of intentional, deliberate tampering with the air pressure in footballs used during the AFC title game.

But that doesn’t mean no one will be getting in trouble.

As one league source recently explained it to PFT, the league’s investigation has expanded to explore its own behavior, including for example the identity of person(s) who leaked to the media information that suggested the Patriots did something wrong.

Regardless of how it plays out, it needs to play out. No matter how played out it all has become.