New England Patriots
No fine for Belichick
Almost at the exact same time as the Patriots announcing the team reached a deal with Cam Newton, another story came down: Their involvement in “SpyGate 2.0.” As a refresher: Patriots’ team videographers were spotted taping the Bengals’ sideline prior to a Week 14 meeting between the two teams last year.
Back to Newton, when the team announced his signing, it went hand-in-hand with the NFL passing down the Patriots’ fine for the second round of SpyGate. But there’s an interesting twist as opposed to the first one. In 2007. Patriots head coach Bill Belichick landed a $500,000 fine, the largest ever for a NFL head coach. According to Patriots Wire, this time around, Belichick avoided a fine. The NFL stripped the Patriots of a third-round pick while instituting a $1 million fine, but none of that was placed on Belichick’s shoulders… or wallet.
In December, Belichick denied involvement in the incident.