It is fair to say that we all agree the Patriots got off easy for spying on the Bengals/Browns game. The Pats were fined $1.1M and a 3rd round pick in 2021. The money doesn’t hurt but the draft pick stings a little. If the Pats were trying to get a leg up on their next competitor and did get an unfair advantage then why did the Bengals not receive that pick as compensation?
The victim in this crime was the Bengals. In the court of law damages are assessed and then paid out to victims. I believe that the NFL messed this one up in the court of fairness. Right now the ESPN pundits are bashing the Bengals because “who cheats to beat the Bengals” and making fun of the Patriots for even needing to do it. It was part of the Patriots defense even…who needs to really record the Bengals because we can easily beat them. It’s insulting.
That third round pick could really help the Bengals in 2021. This year we picked a starting linebacker (Logan Wilson), 2018 it was Sam Hubbard (see stud in the dictionary) and Malik Jefferson (doesn’t help my argument), 2017 it was Jordan Willis (jury is still out sadly). Needless to say the Bengals have done well in the third round of finding starters. A 50% hit rate is an incredible number in the draft. Third round picks matter to the Bengals and this would have been a fair reward. We were 2-14 in 2019…throw us a bone at least.