#Patriots fined, docked draft pick in Spygate II punishment

Spygate II is over and it was the typical less-impactful sequel.

The New England Patriots were fined $1.1 million and will forfeit their third-round pick in the 2021 NFL Draft as penalties for filming the Cincinnati Bengals’ sideline during a Bengals-Cleveland Browns game in December. The Patriots faced the one-win Bengals the following week.

Additional discipline includes Patriots’ television production crews being prohibited from filming games in 2020 and required training on league operation and game policies for all senior team officials.

The NFL-issued penalties were first reported by ESPN and confirmed by The Post.

Harsh and reputation-damaging discipline for any organization, but barely a blip on the radar for the Patriots over the last 25 years.

The original Spygate – when the Eric Mangini-coached Jets reported the Patriots for filming defensive coaches’ signals from an unauthorized stadium location – led to a $500,000 fine for coach Bill Belichick, a $250,000 fine for the Patriots and the loss of their first-round draft pick in 2008.

Unlike the first time, the Patriots immediately confessed and complied with this latest league investigation after getting caught in the act by Bengals security. The Patriots’ explanation is a video crew hired by the organization mistakenly “inappropriately filmed the field from the press box” for a “Do Your Job” video series on an advance scout to publish on the team website.

The Patriots also were fined $1 million and lost a 2016 first-round draft pick for Deflategate, which also resulted in a four-game suspension for quarterback Tom Brady.

In a shrewd move likely to distract fans, the Patriots scooped the release of the penalties by making big news of their own just minutes earlier in the evening: They agreed to an incentive-laden one-year contract with quarterback Cam Newton, who is the favorite to be their starting quarterback if his injured shoulder is healthy.

The Patriots now have a pick in six of the seven rounds of the 2021 Draft and could delayed recoup the lost third-rounder by getting an extra third-rounder in 2022 as compensation if Newton plays well and leaves in free agency next offseason.