Cleveland Browns should lose draft picks over ‘Textgate’

The Cleveland Browns and general manager Ray Farmer have been involved in texting coaches on the sideline during games. As a big violation of league rules, there’s a reason why this should not only receive more attention than “Deflategate,” but should result in the full penalty the NFL can hammer down.

Back on January 6th, a report spread that there was somebody from the press box relaying messages to the Browns sideline. It was a reason Kyle Shanahan, now with the Atlanta Falcons, left the offensive coordinator position in Cleveland.

It was determined that Farmer was the man responsible for texting according to Cleveland.com. ESPN had more details on what the general manager was firing down to the field.

"The texts did not necessarily deal with strategy, but with issues related to quarterback play, use of personnel and the second-guessing of play calls. The source had not seen the exact texts, but learned of them through people with the Browns."

Using a cell phone is strictly against the rules in the bench area. Players or coaches cannot use them from 90 minutes prior to kickoff all the way until the end of the game.

A couple of popular incidents with this rule were former Falcons coach Jim Mora being fined $25,000 for using his phone during the game and Troy Palamalu of the Pittsburgh Steelers fined $10,000. However, Polamalu appealed his fine and won — he was using a team doctor’s phone to tell his wife he was fine after suffering an injury.

This isn’t a simple issue like Polamalu’s, however. This is a general manager of an NFL franchise acting as an additional coach in the press box and feeding the team information. Not only that, but the GM creates a huge conflict of interest in not allowing the coaches hired by him and the front office to do their job.

Nov 6, 2014; Cincinnati, OH, USA; Cleveland Browns owner Jimmy Haslam looks on from the sidelines against the Cincinnati Bengals at Paul Brown Stadium. The Browns won 24-3. Mandatory Credit: Aaron Doster-USA TODAY Sports

The sheer obliviousness to Farmer’s actions needs to result in punishment for him. Some of these penalties could include a suspension for the GM, a fine for the team, and/or the loss of a draft pick. Ultimately, the Browns should get hit with all of that. Hard.

It doesn’t matter if the team has been fully cooperative as owner Jimmy Haslam has said in the Cleveland.com article.

"“I know that Ray and Pett and Sashi Brown, our general counselor, are cooperating fully with the NFL, and if we did anything wrong I’m sure we’ll correct it and make whatever amends,” he said. “I know we’ve cooperated fully with the NFL.”"

Speaking of oblivious, Haslam actually said “if we did anything wrong.” It happened so much one of the coaches got tired of the crap, cleaned out his desk, and left. Assuming it’s happened multiple times throughout the season, a decent-sized fine needs to be sent to Farmer, he needs to be suspended for four games, and the team needs to lose a high draft pick.

This isn’t something as small as “Deflategate,” which got way too much press leading up to the Super Bowl. It was the more popular story because it involved the New England Patriots, they were going to a championship game, and their history in NFL scandals. “Deflategate,” which actually got someone like Jerry Rice to fire an incredibly uninformed hot take, simply turned into something that was taken way out of proportion.

The Patriots will get off with nothing as they should, but that shouldn’t happen with the Browns. This controversy is something that the NFL needs to hammer to regain some of their integrity wile not gauging how much the public actually cares about it.

Next: Jordan Cameron disinterest reflects Cleveland Browns issues

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