NFL Puts Josh Brown on Commissioner's Exempt List

The NFL—and Roger Goodell, specifically—did the New York Giants and Josh Brown a favor this afternoon by putting him on the Commissioner's Exempt List, a special roster designation only available to the commissioner. Essentially, Josh Brown is suspended indefinitely, with pay, while also not counting against the Giants' active roster. So, now that they signed Robbie Gould to replace him, the Giants are not forced to decide between cutting Brown, or cutting some other guy who presumably did not confess in writing to abusing his wife.

Chances are, if not for the benevolence of the Goodell, they would have cut someone else, because head coach Ben McAdoo said today that "We're not going to turn our back on Josh…he's our teammate." It's being reported that he will likely never play for the Giants again, so McAdoo's loyalty continues to be well placed.

Earlier today, Goodell spoke with the BBC in the lead up to this weekend's game in London between these Giants and the Los Angeles Rams. The commissioner, naturally, was pressed about the situation with Brown and why he was so lenient in doling out a one-game suspension earlier this summer after a ten-month investigation into the kicker's May 2015 arrest for domestic violence. As he and the league have done since this story reignited after Brown's confessions became public on Wednesday, Goodell deflected blame elsewhere:

"We'd like to speak to the people involved, whether it's the victim or the people involved that may have information, including law enforcement," added Goodell.

"But we understand that in certain cases they may not be permitted to talk to us, or want to talk to us, and we don't make judgments on people where they do that.

"What we want to do is get the facts and when we get the facts, we're going to aggressively pursue that, and we'll apply our policy."

In that same interview, Goodell said they were going to evaluate the newly released information "and take it from there." Here's where they took it: a paid vacation for Josh Brown and a free roster spot for the Giants.