Goodell says 'Deflategate' fight 'wasn't about the actual violation'

The "Deflategate" saga has moved into its second offseason, with an appeals court reinstating Tom Brady's four-game suspension Monday.

Brady was originally suspended for his alleged role in a ball-deflation controversy ahead of the 2014 AFC Championship Game, but that's apparently not the main reason the league has so vehemently fought for the New England Patriots quarterback to serve his ban.

Commissioner Roger Goodell was asked Thursday on CBS This Morning if making sure Brady's suspension was upheld was worth the $20 million the league has spent during the scandal.

"Well this wasn't about the actual violation," Goodell said. "This was about the rights we had negotiated in our collective bargaining agreement."

Goodell is presumably talking about the powers granted to him during the last CBA, which essentially makes him the judge, jury, and executioner when it comes to player discipline.

That power has come under great scrutiny in recent years, with the suspensions of Ray Rice and Adrian Peterson, but arguably no incident challenged the status quo like Brady's "Deflategate" ban.

Many have questioned why the NFL has battled so hard to uphold one specific ban, but it appears Goodell wants to display the power the CBA grants him and therefore set a precedent for players taking the same course of action as Brady.

"Well, it's very simple here," Goodell said. "In this case, we had an independent counsel look at this case. ... We had a hearing, we had a process that has been in place for several decades."

While it's unlikely that Deflategate is truly over, with Brady believed to be taking steps to further delay and appeal his suspension, Goodell said the league is ready to move on.

"This is a decision we reached last summer," he said. "It was the right decision ... I think this is the end of the matter. We're moving on and focusing on the draft."