I honestly don't think Peats was/is part of BA's plans for 2017. The signing of King during the off season coupled with Pritchards contract extension are not the moves of a coach who is entirely satisfied or convinced that his current 9 is his long term option, especially when you add IDG in to the equation.
While I feel Peats has been treated poorly in the aftermath of this whole debacle, if it never happened and we were a top 4 team come round 24 and he signed with the Titans (for instance) for 2017 there'd likely be a few people around here saying good riddance to the greedy merkin, he's grabbing the cash and running.
None of any of this whole saga is playing out at all well, embarrassing at best. While this Peats episode, if it happens and he is let go, may be bad for morale, it may have reared its head even without the salary cap BS we're going through.