Twenty-one months after originally disciplining the Patriots for Deflategate, the NFL has finally handed down New England’s last punishment related to the scandal.
The league released the official NFL Draft order on Friday, and in that release, it was noted that the Patriots will forfeit the 132nd overall pick in the draft. That’s significant because it means that Deflategate will officially come to a close on April 29 when that pick goes by.
The original punishment for Deflategate was announced all the way back on May 11, 2015, a few weeks after Ted Wells finished his controversial investigation. Shortly after the release of his report, Tom Brady was hit with a four-game suspension, the Patriots were fined $1 million and the team was also docked two draft picks -- a 2016 first-round pick and a 2017 fourth-round pick.
Until Friday, it was unknown where exactly in the fourth round the Patriots would have to forfeit their pick. Although they lost their pick, the Patriots will still have at least one fourth-round pick on April 29 because the team had a total of two picks before the forfeiture was announced.
The Patriots weren’t the only team that learned of a draft punishment on Friday. The Giants also got hit with a small penalty relating to their walkie-talkie scandal from December.
Just before Christmas, the league announced that the team would be fined $150,000, plus coach Ben McAdoo would be fined another $50,000 for using an illegal walkie-talkie during the fourth quarter of a game against the Cowboys.
At the time, the NFL also announced that the Giants fourth-round pick would drop several slots. When the season ended, the Giants were supposed to have the 130th overall pick in the draft. However, due to the penalty, the Giants will now pick 140th overall.
The good news is that we now never have to talk about Deflategate again, except on draft day, when everyone will mention it after the Patriots’ forfeited pick officially passes by.
