Barring a Thursday night trade, the first round of the 2016 NFL Draft will pass without a Patriots pick, the result of the Deflategate discipline handed down by Roger Goodell 11 months ago.
The Pats must wait until the 60th selection, a truth that has been accepted, begrudgingly, by the team's fanbase. Time has softened the Deflategate outrage, or at least it has lessened the frequency with which people express such outrage.
The collective thought now is something along the lines of, It is what it is.
Doesn't mean the Pats weren't wildly overpunished last May.