Rumors: Patriots could lose draft pick, get fined for Spygate 2.0
The New England Patriots might be on their way to suffering similar penalties to the ones they incurred after the original Spygate back in 2007.
Stop us if you’ve heard this one before: the latest rumors and reports out there seem to suggest that the New England Patriots will get slapped with a $500,00 fine and a loss of one of their draft picks.
If that sounds like a bit of unfortunate deja vu, maybe it’s because the Pats had to cough up $500,000 and their first-round draft pick 13 years ago as punishment for their role in Spygate.
In case you’ve been living under a rock your whole life, you’re under the age of 13, or you just hopped aboard the Patriots bandwagon (welcome!), Spygate was a scandal that rocked the New England franchise and the NFL at large back in 2007. Then-New York Jets head coach Eric Mangini snitched to the league that Bill Belichick and the Patriots were illegally filming signals on the opposing team’s sideline.
The NFL investigated, the Patriots were found guilty, and the Patriots were punished. Technically it was Belichick himself who had to pay the $500,000 fine — New England as a team was “only” docked $250,000.
Earlier this season, a New England production crew was caught filming the sidelines once again — this time at a game between the Cincinnati Bengals and the Cleveland Browns. The timing of this incident — which the Patriots claim to this day had nothing do with their football operations — was certainly unfortunate, as the Bengals were the following week’s opponent for New England.
A couple days ago, news leaked that the NFL could be completing their investigation of the Patriots soon. Apparently all the interviews have been finished — now it’s just a matter of compiling all the recorded evidence and testimonies, giving it to league commissioner Roger Goodell, and awaiting his judgment on the matter.
USA Today’s Dave Clark cited an article from The Boston Globe on Thursday that said “league observers still expect the Patriots to receive punishment — potentially a fine up to $500,000 and a loss of a mid- or late-round draft pick — because they have a history with illegal videotaping.”
Next. Mohamed Sanu will reportedly undergo ankle surgery. dark
All things considered, $500,000 is pocket-change for an NFL franchise. These teams make millions upon millions of dollars in revenue a year. The draft pick is obviously more concerning — but at least it’s not the Patriots’ first-round pick … if this report is to be believed.