Saints docked a seventh-round draft pick and fined by NFL for COVID violations, Patriots reportedly fined too

As COVID cases surge, the NFL is cracking down on protocol breaches

With the NFL, along with the rest of the country, experience a massive surge of positive COVID-19 cases, the league has begun cracking down on teams that are breaking protocol. The latest to have the hammer dropped down on them are the New Orleans Saints and New England Patriots. CBS Sports NFL Insider Jason La Canfora confirms that New Orleans has been docked a seventh-round draft pick and fined $500,000 for repeated COVID-related violations. 

The Saints' maskless postgame celebration in the locker room following their win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in Week 9 appears to be a driving force in what led the NFL to distribute a punishment upon Sean Payton's club.

Earlier this season, Payton, along with Raiders head coach Jon Gruden, was fined $100,000 by the league for not wearing a mask during New Orleans' Monday Night Football matchup with Las Vegas back in Week 2. 

As for the Patriots, Ian Rapoport of the NFL Network reports they were fined $350,000 for violations stemming back from October when quarterback Cam Newton and others tested positive for COVID-19. Those positive tests forced the league to, among other things, push back New England's Week 4 matchup with the Kansas City Chiefs to a Monday and reschedule the Patriots' Week 5 head-to-head with the Denver Broncos to Week 6.