The New York Giants will get off relatively easy when the NFL punishes them for illegally using walkie-talkies on the sideline during their 10-7 win over the Dallas Cowboys last week. The league is expected to fine the team, according to Adam Schefter of ESPN.
Giants getting off easy for walkie-talkies exposes Roger Goodell’s arbitrary discipline system
After similar offenses cost teams draft picks and even resulted in one general manager getting suspended, the NFL has reversed course.
Jason Bridge-USA TODAY Sports
A fine. That’s it.
Officially, the league hasn’t made its final determination on the punishment. However, Schefter’s sources say to expect that the Giants will not lose any draft picks for the infraction. He also notes that other teams are not happy about that decision.
Head coach Ben McAdoo used the walkie-talkie to communicate with quarterback Eli Manning. The radio inside his helmet wasn’t working, so they used the handheld radios to send plays to the quarterback.
According to the rules, the quarterback is not allowed to communicate with the sideline with 15 seconds remaining on the play clock. The Giants were said to be observing that rule with their walkie-talkie use, but as one of Schefter’s sources noted, they could have.
The Cowboys made a formal request to the league to investigate the matter.
Whatever fine the Giants end up getting, it’ll be a far cry from the punishments the league has handed out for similar offenses recently. Former Browns general manager Ray Farmer was suspended for four games for sending in-game text messages to offensive coordinator Kyle Shanahan. The team was also fined $250,000.
The Atlanta Falcons were fined $350,000 and lost a draft pick for piping in crowd noise during a game in 2015. Team president Rich McKay also was suspended from the NFL competition committee for three months. An NFL investigation found that McKay and the team’s front office were unaware that the events staff was broadcasting the crowd noise.
And we won’t even mention that whole Deflategate thing.
The incidents and punishments listed above show a clear trend with Roger Goodell’s disciplinary power. He was hammering teams almost as hard as he threw the rulebook at players.
Owners may have chafed at the big fines, suspensions, and lost draft picks, but at least it was doled out fairly evenly. To suddenly ease up on the punishments with an offense no worse than similar ones that drew harsher sentences is only going to make teams even more upset with the disciplinary process.
See More:
