That's what Larry said, and Beane is taking him at his word, but we don't know if that's true.
In fact, a good agent would tell him to wait till the last second, let them know you just got it. He didn't have to say anything, but that would have been a horrible look.
So the letter "just" came after all the first wave of free agent frenzy was finished.
I could see the truth being he knew earlier, and prob around the same time as Hoecht, who found out I believe he said a few weeks after the season...
Sure maybe he just found out yesterday, but when it comes to money I could also see them knowing for a bit longer and playing the game
We will never know. He certainly could have and played it this way, Millions on the line
I also have to question how the hell the NFL doesn't make it a point to have free agent potential suspensions known prior to the start. That's also hush league