When the NFL announced its compensatory picks on Friday, it also closed the book on the New York Giants illegally using walkie talkies during a win over the Dallas Cowboys last season.
And, it wasn’t much of a punishment. The Giants dropped 10 spots in the fourth round, from pick No. 130 to pick No. 140. That’s not nothing, but there’s also a pretty good chance it doesn’t hurt the Giants in the slightest. By that point in the fourth round, it’s quite possible whoever the Giants wanted at 130 will still be on the board at 140. There was a monetary punishment ($150,000 for the Giants organization, $50,000 for coach Ben McAdoo), but that’s nothing compared to hitting a team with draft-pick sanctions. We knew the punishment was going to be that the Giants slid to the back of the fourth round, but it’s still startling to see how little the Giants ended up getting docked.
The New England Patriots have to be curious about the punishment. Not everything should come back to deflate-gate, but it’s hard to ignore the comparison. The Patriots and quarterback Tom Brady were hammered in deflate-gate. The team was docked a first-round pick, and Brady was suspended four games. Even if the NFL had proof of what the Patriots did (Ted Wells’ report had flimsy circumstantial evidence at best), deflating footballs a little below the legal limit was still a misdemeanor at best. The Giants using a walkie talkie for five plays when their communication system went out in the fourth quarter against the Cowboys is a misdemeanor too, and the NFL had no problem proving it since McAdoo didn’t bother hiding the walkie talkie when he used it. One rules violation is worth a first-round pick and a suspension for Brady that’s the same as a positive steroid test, and the other is worth a 10-pick drop in the fourth round? Huh.
It’s not just the Patriots who should raise an eyebrow. When the Atlanta Falcons were found to have pumped in crowd noise, they were fined $350,000 and stripped of a fifth-round pick. The Kansas City Chiefs had to give up a 2016 third-round draft pick and a 2017 sixth-round pick for tampering when they contacted then-free agent Jeremy Maclin before signing him. We can argue if those violations or deflate-gate are worse than New York’s illegal walkie talkie use, but they all feel like they’re in the same boat.
Giants owner John Mara and NFL commissioner Roger Goodell are close. Mara has defended and supported Goodell through his tenure. The Giants ended up with a light punishment over illegally using walkie talkies. A few fan bases have surely taken note of all that.
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Ben McAdoo was caught illegally using a walkie talkie against the Cowboys. (AP)
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