Fox Sports - Vilma lawsuit puts Goodell on the run.
Lawyers, Please explain how "extensions" may benefit Vilma. Is he allowed to join the team? Are you saying Goodell is requesting more time because he has no evidence to disclose? Extension sounds bad if Vilmas at home waiting for a decision?
& Is good news for Vilma good for Payton also or no legal union relation?
No, nothing like that. The lawsuit is a separate civil process that can't itself directly challenge the suspension. They involve some of the same subject matter but are otherwise wholly unrelated.
And the case just started, Goodell hasn't even been served with the lawsuit yet. Under civil procedure on a case for damages, the defendant (Goodell) has to be served and then he has a certain period of time (21 days in federal court) to file his response. What we're saying is that it is common for a defendant to ask for additional time and for that request to be unopposed by the plaintiff and granted by the court.
That's just because the case has just started and while the plaintiff has as much time as he wants to prepare the initial complaint, the defendant only has 20 days to prepare his response . . . seeking additional time is common and reasonable.
So Vilma isnt' sitting home waiting for a decision, the case hasn't really even begun yet. But Goodell is expected to file a motion to dismiss, which is a prelimary motion seeking to end the case before it starts . . . and he's got a fairly good argument for that (though Vilma's counterargument isn't so bad itself).
Expect that motion process to last into August (and a decision could come even later than that). If Vilma survives the dismissal request, the case will then go into discovery, when Vilma can then get access to the bounty evidence. If it isn't settled or disposed by motion through the discovery period, it will eventually go to trial (sometime next year to be sure). And that's only if it isn't dismissed on preliminary motion.