Their usefulness used up, off they go

So.

Drs. Ira Casson and David Viano, the NFL’s deniers-in-chief, have been tossed — OK, nudged — from the NFL’s committee on brain injuries.

Well and good.

Still, not to be too cynical, but I can’t help but think the good doctors served their purpose for the league.

For years, the NFL thought it was in its best interests to disavow a clear link between the game, head injuries and dementia, and Casson and Viano gave the league what it considered plausible deniability.

As the deniability became less and less plausible, Casson and Viano became liabilities. Now that the league apparently is shifting its strategy on concussion, the two simply had to go.

But, as I said, they served their masters well. The players? Not so well.