The New England Patriots said in court papers filed Wednesday in Manhattan that it has a "strong interest" in sparing Tom Brady from starting the season with a four-game suspension.

The papers say the Patriots "strongly believe" nobody tampered with footballs at the 2015 AFC Championship Game. New England defeated the Indianapolis Colts 45-7 in that game and went on to win the Super Bowl.

A three-judge panel of the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals voted 2-to-1 last month to reinstate Brady's four-game suspension. A lower-court judge had ruled last September that the NFL erred in its handling of the probe regarding the deflated footballs and he rejected the suspension a week before the season began.

The following was in a footnote from the Patriots:

“From the outset of this matter the League’s conduct reflects less a search for the truth than pursuit of a predetermined result and defense of a report which, despite no direct evidence of tampering or Mr. Brady’s involvement, was relied on to impose penalties with no precedent or correlation to the alleged offense. The League’s commitment to the conclusions of the Wells Report on which the penalties were based was so absolute that in Mr. Brady’s appeal one of the chief Paul Weiss investigators and an author of the Report, Mr. [Lorin] Reisner, served as the League’s counsel and examined witnesses. In addition, at the very outset of the investigation the League leaked materially incorrect PSI information and refused to correct it for months, allowing public misperceptions to fester. At the AFC Championship Game itself, and despite having no knowledge of the impact of weather on PSI (as admitted under oath), League personnel were already accusing the Patriots of cheating. The League made a ‘preliminary finding’ of wrongdoing by Patriots’ employees less than 24 hours after the Game. Penalties were imposed only three business days after receipt of the 139 page Wells Report and the 82 page Exponent Report and obviously without any critical assessment of either. The Commissioner publicly praised the Wells Report, imposed penalties based on it, and then insisted on hearing and deciding Mr. Brady’s appeal himself despite the authority to appoint an independent person to do so. When evidence at that hearing did not provide support for enhanced findings against Mr. Brady (to go beyond ‘general awareness’ of violations by others), the Commissioner made new findings and changed the basis on which Mr. Brady was being penalized.”

Tom Brady will appeal Monday for a second hearing by the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in regard to his four-game Deflategate suspension imposed by the NFL.

NFL Players Association attorney Theodore B. Olson told ABC News on Monday morning in an interview aired on "Good Morning America" that it plans to file the appeal later Monday.

"The facts here are so drastic and so apparent that the court should rehear it," Olson told ABC News.

The court upheld Brady's suspension in a 2-1 decision April 25.

The Carolina Panthers have released Brandon Boykin.

Boykin signed a one-year, $840,000 deal in March with the Panthers.

Boykin started just one game in Pittsburgh last season after several solid seasons as a slot corner in Philadelphia.

Rob Gronkowski has been selected for the cover of Madden NFL '17.

Gronkowski is both the first tight end and member of the New England Patriots to be selected for the cover.

"My rookie year [in 2010], it was just an honor to be in the game, just using yourself as a player, throwing yourself the ball every single time you can at home, just playing the game," Gronkowski told SportsCenter. "Now it's a dream come true, going into my seventh season and being on the cover.

"When I first found out, I was blessed. It was a surreal moment."

Gronkowski was a finalist for the cover last year when it instead went to Odell Beckham Jr. 

Julian Edelman underwent surgery on his left foot this offseason but he's on track to return in time for training camp.

Edelman recently was spotted in New York City with a "big boot" on his foot, riding a motorized device to get around.

Edelman's most recent foot surgery, the second on his left foot within the past year, was considered a "cleanup procedure" that is not expected to impact his 2016 regular season.

Edelman initially broke his left foot in November but he returned for the playoffs.

Danny Amendola took a $4.4 million pay cut to remain with the New England Patriots.

The most money Amendola can make in 2016 is $1.6 million.

Under his old deal, Amendola's base salary in 2016 would've been worth $5 million alone (along with the opportunity to earn more money due to incentives).

Amendola lost out on $2.3 million last season.

Tom Brady's $200 cookbook has sold out days after being released.

The cookbook features 89 recipes and is printed on 100-pound text paper with covers made from natural wood.

Brady described the cookbook as "another step toward achieving your peak performance."

Recipes include avocado ice cream and carrot cake.