LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — The NFL took a hit in a Nevada courtroom on Wednesday.
A Nevadajudge ruled against the NFL's attempt to compel arbitration in the Jon Gruden lawsuit. Dave Courvoisier talked with A.J. Perez, a senior reporter from Front Office Sports, about this decision and what this means moving forward.
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Perez said he talked to Gruden after the proceeding.
"Yeah, he wouldn't really comment; he was smiling," Perez said. "It was a big victory for him because it would have ended like it ended today, this morning in court."
However, while it's a big victory for Gruden, it may be a bad for the NFL.
"There are a couple of other cases going on, including the Brian Flores lawsuit — the former coach of the Miami Dolphins — and now with the NFL is coming off a big settlement in St. Louis where they had to spend hundreds of millions of dollars," Perez said. "And now it's going to be a fight over documents, at this point. ...the NFL told me that they are going to appeal one of today's rulings and will go to an appeals court, and that could take a long time."
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With discovery on the table, what could this mean in regard to the legal battle and specifically the impact on the league? Because the NFL's a closed society, they keep their cards close to the vest.
So, what does this mean for them? Perez said there's going to be a lot of fighting.
"They're going to be fighting this," he said. "And not only to throw it throughout the decision, one of the main decisions today, but also to keep the document sealed."
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Perez said he has not heard any statement from the Raiders regarding this case. Either way, rehiring Gruden may be out of the question.
"I reached out today. I haven't heard anything back," Perez said. "There's no way Jon Gruden is going to be rehired at this point, maybe many years down the road, and if things can change. We got to find a little more out about the how and why the first email leak was with The Wall Street Journal. And Mark Davis didn't force him out at that point."
