The Panthers expressed significant interest in Deshaun Watson this offseason but backed off after the slew of off-field issues surfaced. They were thought to be re-entering the sweepstakes ahead of the Nov. 2 trade deadline, but it no longer looks like they are moving forward here.
Carolina is no longer expected to pursue a Watson deal before the deadline, Ian Rapoport of NFL.com tweets. The Panthers did re-engage the Texans on Watson last week, SI.com’s Albert Breer tweets, after not having previously discussed the Pro Bowl quarterback since before the season started. As of Wednesday morning, however, Watson has only waived his no-trade clause for the Dolphins, Rapoport adds.
This does not mean the Panthers are done with a Watson pursuit, with The Athletic’s Joe Person adding the no-trade clause is not an issue regarding a deal to Carolina (Twitter link). This would mean the Clemson alum would not be expected to veto a trade to the Panthers. While that would be a critical matter for a possible 2022 offseason trade, the Panthers standing down for now opens the door for the Dolphins.
The Panthers made the Texans an offer for Watson, and if the quarterback is on board with a relocation to Charlotte, it is interesting now that Carolina is bowing out. For 2021 at least, this breaks up a lengthy Panthers-Watson connection.
This past offseason, Carolina was set to outbid everyone for Watson, Jeremy Fowler of ESPN.com notes (video link). Given the reports depicting David Tepper‘s interest in acquiring Watson — before the off-field issues surfaced — this is certainly not surprising. But 22 women have since accused Watson of sexual assault or sexual misconduct. In addition to potential criminal charges, the 26-year-old quarterback faces a lengthy suspension. That ban is unlikely to come down until 2022, but teams are certainly leery of surrendering prime assets for Watson without knowing what his future holds. The Texans have asked for three first-round picks and at least two seconds for the three-time Pro Bowler.
A report last week pegged the Panthers and Eagles as non-serious Watson suitors, but after Matt Rhule benched Sam Darnold in Carolina’s fourth straight loss Sunday, the Watson-Carolina connection resurfaced. For the season’s remainder, it appears Darnold and P.J. Walker will be Carolina’s QB options. Should the Dolphins not trade for Watson by next week, it should be expected the Panthers will be back in the mix in 2022.
With next year’s draft virtually devoid of QB talent the price they get for this predator will just keep going up and up – provided of course he can buy off his 32+ accusers.
I call bs…
Someone tell me how a Leftist hijacked organization like NFL (it’s a TV show, so yeah) could allow Watson to play this year or even next year. Cancel Culture, amiright?
No that would Be the Corrupt Roger Goodell. The guy who destroys evidence and claims 32 Accusers or however many it is is not enough evidence. He was very light on Antonio Brown. He suspended guys for a lot less and gave other players who probably should not have been suspended in the first place about 1000 chances. Goodell is a Clown, He is running the National Football League into the Ground.
What the Panthers need to do is Fire Joe Brady, and trade for some Receivers and a TE.
Looks like the Panthers front office has found a sense of logic. Too bad Miami hasn’t had a sniff of it
Except they keep Joe Brady, and think they have tons of talent around Darnold when they in actuality don’t.
Just like Miami who has Co Offensive Coordinators they are OFFENSIVE alright with their Putrid Pat Shurmur like Pass happy playcalling. Maybe the Browns can trade them OBJ. You throw the ball to him he drops it, you throw it a little off he might catch it,
There was a time when I thought that Watson would never play again in the NFL. I forgot who was telling the story, and that they rarely, if ever, tell us the truth. At least, not the whole, unadulterated, truth that hasn’t been scandalously manipulated to generate publicity and profits.
The longer this goes on, and after reading the individual complaints online and having a better understanding of what has really been said and done, I believe that there is more happening behind the scenes than what the media knows and what we have been fully informed about. However, I am sure that Watson’s agent has been sharing that complete information, with a non-disclosure agreement, of course, with the Dolphins. The Dolphins have not been good for a very long time, but, the individuals running the organization are no less blind to everything that we are seeing and saying, and, hapless as the Dolphins may seem, they wouldn’t give away that much for Watson if they didn’t have the inside information that he is ultimately going to be acquitted.
Was Watson looking for and getting “happy endings?” Sure. Lots of men do every single day, in every walk of life. It’s common culture in the NFL, too, though not openly talked about.
None of that makes it right or acceptable. I am just stating the truth.
The NFL needs to do something to address the problem, and Watson will be their poster child leading the way for healthy reform. They won’t want the spotlight shined on all of the others doing the exact same things, so, they won’t want to over expose themselves by making a negative example out of Watson. Instead, they will spin it as players needing help for another form of mental illness and addiction.
Watch.
If you read the individual accounts from the different massage therapists, and the information obtained from third parties with close personal knowledge of some of them, you will see that a lot of what is going on is motivated by greed. Someone in high places, with considerable influence and power, caught wind of Watson’s proclivities for that type of behavior, and when he started talking about wanting to leave Houston they decided to retaliate by drumming up the civil cases against him. The first few plaintiffs were women who had already tried to blackmail Watson about the information, but, because he had been wise enough in advance to have them all sign non-disclosure agreements, he held steady and refused to pay their demands.
Then comes along the crafty attorney who is a regular walking side-show all of the time, way before this, and suddenly he turned those blackmailers into “innocent victims” and the three-ring media circus came to town. The bandwagon was in full motion and more “victims” with dollar signs in their eyes jumped aboard for the ride.
The problem remained that it was still a civil matter and most of the plaintiffs had signed legal non-disclosure agreements with Watson before they ever began massaging him. Therefore, their testimony in the civil matters was inadmissible and, in-fact, they could be counter sued. Unless…it transitioned from only being civil to becoming a criminal investigation. Then, it would all be public record, regardless of the outcome of any criminal prosecution, whether Watson was ever formally charged or not. The criminal complaints were filed just so they could go after Watson’s money, without recourse for breaking the terms of the non-disclosure agreements they had signed.
If there was probable cause to charge Watson criminally, the state’s prosecutors already would have. If you read the individual complaints from each of the massage therapists who had experiences with Watson and how they describe certain activities that the media has distorted to be made into something egregious and shocking, you will see that the therapists were never truly “forced” to do anything that they did not ultimately choose to do by their own decision. None of the complaints ever describe Watson physically forcing the massage therapists to do anything against their will, either by verbal threat to harm them nor by physically assaulting and overpowering them to make them do what they did.
If feeling “pressured” due to knowing that it is widely and commonly practiced between professional athletes and the other massage therapists that work on them that sexual favors are expected and provided, in exchange for generous payments, and then being fearful that if they were not willing to perform those favors then their reputations would be damaged because their failure to comply could be shared and they would not have the same profitable opportunities as therapist who would oblige the athletes, then, yes, they were “pressured” by their own greed and not wanting to be ostracized. Feeling pressured, for reasons such as that, does not equate to being “forced” to do something against their will and thereby becoming a victim of the crimes accused.
Did they see Watson’s genitalia? Yes.
Even most legitimate massages are performed on naked customers and, even when towels and other coverings are used, I am certain that it is not entirely uncommon for therapists to unintentionally or accidentally view their patients’ genitals at some time. If you’re going to work on naked patients, you have to be ready and willing to accept that it is part of the job.
Was Watson, perhaps, intentionally and overtly displaying his genitals? Sounds like he probably was. Still, they persisted with the massage and eventually he “made” (again, without force out threats of force or harm) them touch his penis with their hands, and “made” them “hold it” until he ejaculated (which is translated to, they were moving their hands in a motion to masturbate him as they were holding his penis for a continued amount of time beyond when they were “made” to touch or hold him, because I am sure he did not, though entirely possible, just spontaneously and prematurely ejaculate upon their simply touching and momentarily holding his penis in their hands and/or mouths. Sure, it’s entirely possible that he could have ejaculated prematurely without them continuing to actively, physically do anything more, but, I highly doubt that and believe that if that were the case then that unflattering detail would have been made known.) They were “pressured” to finish the job.
And, most of them continued to see Watson for repeated subsequent massages and further appointments, even after they were “made” to do the things they have now described as having traumatized them.
Please, they are insulting and minimizing the horrible acts of sexual assault and abuse that many woman are legitimately victimized by every day.
They simply wanted to get paid: then, and now. Prominent people wanted to damage Watson’s reputation, or even initially intended to just extort him to prevent him from leaving the team. When those efforts failed, it turned into what it has become.
The FBI is involved, and I assure you it is not for the purpose of investigating the alleged sex crimes. They are investigating the illegalities of the how the attorneys for the accusers have manipulated the entire process and used undue influence to attempt to legally extort Watson. It may even involve collusion on the part of the Texans organization and ownership. All of that would even more-so explain the persistent silence and non-action thus far from the NFL, in addition to the Houston PD.
At the end of the day, while he won’t come away from this unscathed without his personal reputation being damaged for his perverse actions, Watson will be exonerated and vindicated of the crimes he is accused of committing. The Dolphins will finally have their long coveted franchise QB, and Watson will go on to have a Hall of Fame type of career, even if the asterisk beside his list of accomplishments will serve as a footnote that may keep him from ever wearing the golden jacket.
This is a horrible take all around.
How so?
Well for starters there are multiple women who have only filed for criminal charges without filing any type of civil suite.
lol I give you credit for reading all of that. He lost me after two paragraphs. Probably Watson’s representative.