However you feel about Patriots guard Nick Kaczur snitching on the man he claims provided him with thousands of OxyContin pills, or “lunch” to Rush Limbaugh, give him credit — legally, he’s walking out of this pretty cleanly.

Kaczur, who was caught bringing 202 pills of the painkiller from Canada in upstate New York after being pulled over by a state trooper, pleaded guilty to a simple speeding charge in a deal with prosecutors. That, paired with turning over on alleged dealer Daniel Ekasala, was enough to get Kaczur’s original drug possession misdemeanor put on hold. If he steers clear of trouble for six months, it’s dismissed completely.

Kaczur will have to pay $355 in fines and fees. You or I would be living an episode of Oz in similar circumstances.

What remains to be seen is how some of Kaczur’s opponents and teammates react to the lineman’s decision to flip. That behavior surely betrays the ethos of many NFL players. I suppose that’s a small price to pay for freedom, however, and Kaczur will be shackle-less when the Patriots begin camp on Wednesday.

Somewhere, Johnny Jolly is taking notes.