Patriots owner Robert Kraft's acceptance of the Deflategate punishment was without question his way of looking out for the league first, while also respecting the power of the commissioner. But Kraft, I believe, also had another reason: He knows that his legacy is part of this story as well.
This is one of the more interesting parts of the Deflategate story. Spygate is attached to Bill Belichick. Deflategate (that's a lot of "-gates") is attached to Tom Brady.
So where does that leave Kraft? Two of the biggest scandals in league history happened under his ownership.