When Bill Belichick and the Patriots proposed a rule change at last week's owners meetings that would add cameras to the sidelines, end lines and goal lines at NFL stadiums to ensure better replay angles, it wasn't passed. But it wasn't voted down, either.
The league tabled the proposal in order to research the use of fixed cameras and stadium video in the replay system, and it appears as though that research will commence on Monday, according to NFL Media's Albert Breer.
Breer tweeted that the NFL is looking for "the right technology and then how to best integrate the cameras into the replay system that will work in all 31 stadiums."
When asked about the proposal on Tuesday morning at the AFC Coaches Breakfast, Belichick did not seem all that hopeful that it would pass. According to him, one of the barriers to its passage would be the amount of money it would cost.
"It’s disappointing every year we can’t afford that as a league," Belichick said. "They brought that up as a concern. It was kind of surprising to hear that."
At last year's breakfast, Belichick echoed a similar sentiment: "We just spent however many millions of dollars on the replay system. I mean, there are 1,000 cameras in every stadium, so if somebody spills a beer on somebody, we have it on record, right? Maybe we could have a bake sale to raise some money for the cameras. We could do a car wash."
Patriots chairman and CEO Robert Kraft said on Monday that the NFL could afford anything that "supports the integrity or body of the game," though Giants owner John Mara, a member of the Competition Committee, said last week that he was "not optimistic" the proposal would go through.
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That there will be some research conducted to see how the Patriots proposal might work does not guarantee that there will be more cameras at NFL stadiums next year, but it's a step in the right direction to enhancing the replay system and giving officials the best possible resources to get calls right.