Browns pick at risk over texts … Mary Kay Cabot of the Cleveland Plain Dealer is reporting that the Browns could lose a draft pick if an NFL investigation concludes that their were texts from team execs to the sidelines outside what the league allows during games. G.M. Ray Farmer also faces a possible suspension as he is the executive whom it is believed recommended plays to the coaching staff via texts during games. In fact, it is an odd situation as it is hard to imagine anything that would be more annoying to the coaches than to get such missives during an actual game. Indeed, former offensive co-ordinator Kyle Shanahan is believed to have resigned because of such interference. The NFL is expected to rule on the case within the next 2-3 weeks. And while the Browns’ transgressions would hardly seem to rise to the severity that would put either of their two first-round picks at risk, New Orleans, which didn’t have a #1 pick that year, forfeited two second-rounders for the case involving targeting opposition players known as Bountygate in 2012, while New England was penalized a first-round pick in 2007 for the Spygate scandal. And the Patriots could be in line to lose yet another pick as the NFL continues looking into the allegations that New England messed with the footballs during games earlier this year, while Atlanta is also under investigation for illegally pumping noise into their stadium during games this year.
