Is it really a -Gate? I don't know, but we've got some sensitive folks around here [motions north and east, specifically towards Boston, with head] so let's just be safe and say, sure, the Giants are getting punished for Walkie Talkie Gate. If you don't remember, here's a quick refresher: during Sunday Night Football last week against the Cowboys, the Giants experienced some kind of technical problem with their headsets and resorted to using handheld walkie talkies to communicate play calls.The only problem is, coaches are not supposed to have two-way radios during games because the league controls the radio communications between the sidelines and the quarterback, and automatically cuts it off with 15 seconds remaining on the playclock. Obviously, using your own walkie talkie makes it impossible to enforce the 15 second rule. According to Adam Schefter, one NFL source said even though the Giants weren't using the walkie talkies in those final 15 seconds, they "had the opportunity" to. So, the league fined the Giants $150,000 and Ben McAdoo earned a $50,000 fine as well. Also, the league pushed New York's fourth round pick in the 2017 draft to the end of the round, after all the compensatory picks are made.According to Mike Florio, the league was able to differentiate between the punishment here, and that handed out to the Browns in 2014 when then-GM Ray Farmer was suspended four games when he was caught texting down to the sideline because Farmer was was a repeat offender, and McAdoo's transgression was only the one time.McAdoo and the Giants only used the walkie talkies for "about four or five plays" on one drive and it ended with Eli Manning throwing an interception.
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