The drama known as “Spygate 2.0” appears to be nearing a conclusion.
The New England Patriots are expected to be punished for videotaping the Cincinnati Bengals’ sideline in Cleveland on Dec. 8, according to multiple reports. New England acknowledged a member of the “Do Your Job” production crew violated NFL rules, but the organization has insisted nothing was done out of nefarious intent. The NFL still must wrap up portions of its investigation into the matter.
Here are updates from ESPN’s Adam Schefter and NFL Media’s Ian Rapoport:
Patriots are expected to be disciplined for acknowledged gameday video violations in Cincinnati, per league sources. Discipline likely to come in the next two weeks, but not all security reports back to NFL yet.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) January 4, 2020
Sources: The #Patriots did, in fact, commit a game-day violation and they are expected to be disciplined for taping the #Bengals sidelines.. What’s not clear is if there is a link back to football operations, as not all security reports are back to the NFL offices.
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) January 4, 2020
So, what kind of punishment could the Patriots be looking at?
Here’s some context from Schefter.
A basis for Pats’ discipline.
Former Cleveland GM Ray Farmer was suspended four games without pay and Browns fined $250K for in-game texting.
ATL loses 5th-round pick, Falcons fined $350k, President Rich McKay suspended from competition committee for piping in crowd noise.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) January 4, 2020
While both Schefter and Rapoport both left the door open for the possibility of the NFL discovering more damming evidence, all reports thus far have indicated the league has not found a link between the violation and the Patriots’ football operations.
The Patriots will host the Tennessee Titans on Saturday night in an AFC wild-card matchup.
