He is being protected. Other players who were accused of less then him were placed on the restricted list while theirs was an investigation. In other cases, the NFL did a thorough investigation, and it didn’t take this long. This started in January 2021. He got paid for all of last season. He got a trade and a record deal.
I don’t think that’s protected. He didn’t play. And he still might not. I think the league decided their fingers got burned in the Ray Rice thing. With the suspension considered too short, then they made it indefinite, then that went to court and they lost, and in the end nobody picked him up so who cares. So what they learned there is to not under punish, but also don’t over punish, but also let things play out. And I think that’s where they are.