We recently heard that new Browns QB Deshaun Watson would not end up on the Commissioner’s Exempt list since he will not be criminally charged in connection with the sexual assault allegations for which he is still facing 22 civil suits. And, as Mary Kay Cabot of Cleveland.com writes, the absence of criminal charges may also help Watson avoid a lengthy suspension.
Per Cabot, league investigators will view the grand jury non-indictments as “mitigating factors” when it comes to doling out punishment to the embattled passer. A suspension may not be put in place until the civil matter is resolved — and Cleveland will not pressure Watson to settle the suits — but when the NFL’s investigation concludes and a decision is made, Cabot hears that Watson could be hit with a six-game ban that gets reduced to four games.
That would obviously count as a huge victory for the Browns, who gave up a bounty of draft capital and a market-altering contract to acquire Watson in a move that many pundits have classified as desperate. Winning, though, has a way of rewriting history, and if Watson escapes all of his legal troubles with only a four-game suspension (at least as far as on-field ramifications are concerned), Cleveland will have a very good chance of winning in 2022 and beyond.
Of course, the Browns are still rostering Baker Mayfield, an awkward reality that would become even more awkward if they are forced to retain him throughout the 2022 season. GM Andrew Berry recently said he would be willing to do so, but that surely is just a bit of posturing. Berry obviously wants to trade the former No. 1 overall pick, and he is content to wait until a starting quarterback on another club suffers an injury and creates a QB need for that club. According to Cabot, Berry may need to do just that, because there is “no market” for Mayfield at this point.
Still, Cabot says Berry does not want to give Mayfield away or include one of his own draft picks in a trade to entice another team to assume Mayfield’s contract. She writes that the plan remains to have newly-signed QB Jacoby Brissett, and not Mayfield, operate as the starting signal-caller in the event of a Watson suspension. The one-year deal that Brissett signed with the Browns last month has a base value of $4.65MM, almost all of which ($4.5MM) is guaranteed, as Tom Pelissero of the NFL Network tweets. Brissett will have a chance to earn more via incentives, including, perhaps, play-time incentives that could be realized if/when Brissett stands in for Watson.
One more item on Mayfield: his disenchantment with the Browns was intensified in the wake of a report that surfaced prior to the Watson trade indicating that the team was looking for “an adult” at the quarterback position (thus implying that Mayfield is not, in fact, an adult). Per team owner Jimmy Haslam, that comment did not come from the Cleveland front office (Twitter link via Jeff Schudel of the News-Herald).
Absolutely mental this man should be locked up
For what?
You need to go to the authorities with your information
Your team still sucks
Quiet, the adults are talking
Top 5 roster in the NFL
Watson walked into the room full of reporters pulled his Willey out and said Mr Johnson is my agent he will be busy later we have an appointment with a massage therapist and I hear she is hot. Weiner and beans at my house for dinner you all are invited. Baker is cooking.
yea, let’s not even hold a trial and not look for ANY evidence besides these women’s word is 100% without a doubt true.
I know. In those commercials, Baker lives in the stadium. Something definitely going on upstairs.
Apparently gambling when you’re not even playing is worse than (allegedly) sexually assaulting 22 woman… NFL punishments are disgraceful
The whole league is disgraceful
Quit watching then
I don’t watch
Yet you still like the nfl.
Of course it is. It affects the NFL business directly… Also the keyword is allegedly. I could allege that you did anything I want to.
Hence the reason I used the word allegedly lol
A better comparison to allegedly sexually assaulting 22 women would be to not have a football at exactly 11 PSI in cold weather. smh NFL.
Ridley gambling must be punished to protect the shield! Also, make sure to use Draft Kings, the official gambling partner of the NFL!
Well, they had proof of one of those things, and no proof of the other. Also, it’s the NFL’s job to regulate one of those things, and not the other. Don’t get why those comparisons are so common.
I know that this case where there is no definitive proof or conviction isn’t a great comparison. I will note if you look at what Greg Hardy was found guilty of he only got 10 games.
Yeah, 10 games is a lot though for a single offense by the NFL’s standard. Hardy settled his case as well, something Watson has yet to do.
You are right on each case being different and suspensions in a vacuum make sense. What bothers me mostly is that this a league that talks so much about integrity and protecting the shield. This is all while profiting off of gambling while punishing a player for it and profiting off of breast cancer awareness merchandise while some really scummy guys don’t really face major consequences for their actions. I really wish a new commissioner came in the clean up the league like David Stern did in basketball, but I doubt that ever happens.
I agree-my original comment was not in reply to you, just to the opening comment above it.
Would you like to be punished for something that the authorities neither arrested you for or charged you with?
Aces Stern was as big a snake as any of them. Get on YouTube and watch the piece on the Sonics being stolen and sent to OKC. He had his fingers in a bunch of crap behind the scenes. Goodell has done some stupid stuff but he has as far as I can tell did shady stuff to get one of his friends a team.
Can’t believe all the browns have done this offseason. Get involved with Watson and alienate mayfield, then actually get Watson and be RELIEVED he may only get a 4 game suspension. Give him a fully guaranteed $200 million deal too. Absurd
It’s Malpractice!
The other owners have to be livid with these moves.
The thing is several of them would have gladly traded places. It is quite sad.
People complain that the owners don’t spend money and then complain when they do. Now what is the common thread?
Bold strategy by the Browns front office. Sign Brissett and immediately anoint him the backup position. Then fully expect other franchises to take on Mayfields full salary in a trade as opposed to simply waiting for the Browns to inevitably release him. Let’s see how it works out for them Cotton.
I think it’s important going forward that Watson understands the math. 22 women = 4 games. 11 women would only be 2 games. Nobody wants to play the 17th game any way, so he should be able to assault 5.5 women per season and only miss that one game.
It’s scary how close to reality this is.
He’d have to time it right, too. Assault 5.5 women around Thanksgiving and fully cooperate with the investigation as quickly as possible and he could thread the needle.
So Mayfield starts those games?
Or the Browns trade Mayfield to the Eagles and then the Browns sign Copernicus aka Kaepernick
I think Mayfield would be a great fit for the Eagles
This trade that the Browns did was Bush League
Why would they sign kap when they sign a decent back up Qb already wouldn’t make sense
Bush league. Nearly lateral move they only gained height. Mayfield will be cut. I would not play for this organization. When Watson was out on browns. Ownership crawled back to baker. Sick.
This move was not bush league they informed Baker and his camp that if a top 5 QB came available they would pursue him. Watson is a Better QB then Baker it’s not just height, when you have one of the best WR in football and you can’t get him the football when he is open they should have looked to trade Baker then not OBJ
Thanks for your opinion. Top 5 seems heavy.
Last time he played his Stats said top 5 he doesn’t have a problem with seeing over the offense of lineman, He is more Mobile than Baker, Stronger Arm then Baker. He’s A Better QB Then Baker
Texans were a better team. It’s the ultimate baker test. If Watson can make playoffs. Baker was the flaw. But something tells me the browns are as bland as their helmets. Thanks again for your opinion. I’m saving receipts
He will settle these civil suits soon so that the suspension and loss of pay occurs in 2022 when his salary is $1 million.
Easily one of the slimiest contracts in the history of sports.
Agreed
The monetary amount of a suspension is not only tied to number of games missed.
What can he do to erase his infantile responses to questions in the first deposition? The dude sounded like a 12 year old. Can’t wait until all the details of the 22 existing (plus 4 potential new cases) come out.
It’s over. The grand jury and the police have already investigated this and there wasn’t enough there to even charge him with anything. Evidence isn’t gonna suddenly appear now
Do any of you Watson defenders have any idea of what you’re talking about? Have any of you ever served on a grand jury? If not, why are so quick to exonerate him. I did serve on a grand jury as foreperson for 3 months hearing dozens of cases. In the first place, the grand jury does not investigate. They review the evidence gathered by law enforcement and presented to them by prosecutors. If they feel there is enough evidence for an indictment, they bind the suspect over for trial where a judge and/or jury determines whether or not they are guilty. In my experience, the prosecutors did not ever present a case to the grand jury unless they were almost certain of a conviction. They simply did not want to waste the money on a case that was not winnable. I’m guessing, and this is purely a guess, the prosecutors presented the cases against Watson to the grand juries in large part because of the high profile nature of the cases and didn’t want to be accused of sweeping it under the rug. Without physical evidence it would be a case of “he said, she said” and nearly impossible to win. If my memory serves me, Watson admitted to having sex with some of the women, but said it was consensual. That doesn’t mean that it was. It also doesn’t mean that it wasn’t because the accusers said so. Do you see where this all ends up, at least criminally? Nowhere. I’m a lifelong Browns fan and I want to win as much as the next guy. But I have limits to what I’ll accept to win. That’s my right. There are other Browns fans who are so starved for a winner that they’ll accept anything to win and that’s their right. I’ve never been in the position that Watson put himself in with these women. Therefore I have no idea who’s telling the truth. We’ll never know who is because we weren’t there. So please don’t proclaim his innocence based on the grand jury’s actions.
Nobody is proclaiming his innocence, just not convicting him. Is he freaky? Yes. My point is that no lady ever went to the police the next day, otherwise he never would have gotten to 22 women. Why would not 1 lady out of 22 not go to the authorities the minute he left? I understand in sexual assault that the victim doesn’t go to the authorities all the time for whatever reason but not 22
Apparently you have more details than the rest of us since you seem to be certain that none of the 22 women came forth immediately after the alleged assaults. You say you are not proclaiming his innocence. Yet you infer it with your statements about the women’s actions. Which is it? I stated that I had no idea who was telling the truth. My point was that you can’t make a judgement of guilt or innocence based on the grand juries’ actions.
Baker isn’t news. All this hazing is just inevitable knee-jerk patty cake b.s.
The real story is everybody knows that the fact the Browns rolled out a slobbering $230MIL carpet for QB-22 and Kaepernick is still campaigning for a job is utterly pathetic.
It’s gone beyond embarrassingly ‘white’ to total whoredom for football. I’d almost root for a team that signs Kaepernick just out of human decency.
Meanwhile, the Washington Commanders…..(SMH)
Kaepernick hasn’t played in five years, and until now, wasn’t willing to be a backup. Try again.
Why should he be a Backup when there is not 32 QB in the league that’s better than him? (I’ll wait) he was Black Balled PERIOD
LOL
The man [sic] hasn’t played in FIVE years and you’re comparing him to guys that are in playing shape?
Go back to your computer football game.
Blake Bortles was better than Kaep the last time Kaep played, so how can you say he’s better than any starter in the league currently? I would imagine anyone who’s currently starting who might be used as an argument here is on a rookie deal.
I’m talking about five years ago when he was in Football Shape
I’m talking about Five years ago when he was in Football Shape and Blake Bortles was never better than Kap
Wait so the decent thing to do is add a 34 year old who refused a trade that would have kept him employed at a lower salary? And then his gf shot her mouth off about another teams owner(the guy who’d pay him) and cost another contract?
No. The decent thing to do is realize this isn’t an apples to apples comparison.
The NFL lost it’s standards many years ago.
The way these 2 QB’s comport themselves would never have been permitted.
But this is a new age, and America is all about the quick buck – integrity be dammed, there are always people around to make excuses for the scumbags.
+1
I could care-a-less about all of this argumentation.
Good for Pete Carroll. The culture in NFL is just getting gross (or has been for too long).
Or zero games.
This is a good thing – as I can now root against the Browns THIS year rather than waiting until NEXT year.
Root against Goodell and the NFL league offices while you root against the Browns and the NFLPA. But let’s see what happens and if evidence comes out I’d like to see what other players and the union say, they are the ones protecting him
Or Deshaun is more likely to be suspended for 6+ games after an appeal!
All my 49er gear went on the burn pile 4 years ago. No more NFL Sunday ticket and very few games watched.
Cool
Let’s go Watson!
As a Steelers fan, I have to admit that the Watson signing is a real game changer, and I won’t make any comment about his character
But it’s strange to me that there is “no market for Mayfield”. The guy might have not been the answer in an offense with incredible talent in Cleveland last year, but you can’t tell me there aren’t a number of teams where he’d be a better option than what they currently have ( and honestly, the Steelers are one of them).
I don’t think there is zero market for Baker as much as Browns have zero leverage. Teams know that he will not play for the Browns again, and they will have to cut him and eat the salary. Then his market will develop from teams that didn’t get the QB they wanted in the draft.
Or they could just let him sit out the season and don’t pay him. He has to report to honor his contract
He has to report, but he doesn’t have to play. Simply put, he could (and should) claim he has a back injury. It’d be the smartest play for Baker. They can’t touch his money then. I hope he does it, too.
This isn’t calling in sick at McDonald’s. You don’t think an NFL team will examine his back? You think he’s just gonna be able to say…..my back hurts, send my money to my house?
How would they examine a “muscle pull”? An MRI can’t detect it. You can’t prove or disprove it.
That’s exactly what an MRI does is examine back problems. Disks and vertebrae. You are wack if you think he’s gonna be able to claim a fake injury for the season and the Browns just pay him. Wow. You win stupid comment of the day. Congrats
He said Baker could claim a muscle pull and an MRI can’t pick that up and you responded with a bunch of irrelevant nonsense about back injuries. You might want to pull back that ‘stupid comment of the day’ trophy and put it back in your display case where it belongs.
You may want to read his previous comment. He mentioned back injury. Now you win stupid comment of the day. Hey, the day is young still.
I never once said he should pretend to have a vertebrate or disk problem. Lol. Also, yes, potentially he might be able to claim a muscle pull for the season if he “reaggravates” it in training. If the Browns don’t pay, how fast you think a grievance from the NFLPA hits them? You think they take that fight for a QB they don’t intend to keep? How exactly do you see the Clowns winning that?
Nothing will bring up Baker’s free agency value than to fake an injury all season. Either teams will believe he’s a cheat and a fraud or they’ll believe he’s damaged goods. He has zero chance of faking an injury all season
I’d like to be able to agree with you and say you’re right, character counts. Your Browns just gave Watson a fully guaranteed 230m, which illustrates it doesn’t. How many opportunities has Antonio Brown gotten? Even Greg Hardy got a 2nd chance.
If Baker faked an injury, regardless of what people believe, he’d have an understandable reason. Sure, it might create cause for pause, but he only needs to win over one GM.
The players you mentioned did things to people outside of football. Baker would be screwing his own team. Honestly I like Baker and I don’t see him doing that. As for AB, the only team that wanted him was the one Tom Brady was GM of
There will be a market for Mayfield during the season when a contenders QB goes down for the season.
Yeah, the second he’s cut, Baker will have a huge market. The Cleveland Clowns backed themselves into a corner, and no team is going to give up assets knowing he’ll be cut.
Part of the problem is he had surgery too
4 games in this division is really tough. Not to mention he will be rusty for at least a few games. Even with Watson I see them 3rd in the division. Everyone talks the Browns have a great roster. I mean it’s decent bot any better than Baltimore or Cincy. I don’t see it.
Mike tomlin still doesn’t have a losing season to his name. So id say all six games in the division aren’t easy.
Hilarious post. Either math isn’t your thing or your diss of the Steelers is the goal. New O-line, one of the best running backs in the league, additions on defense and arguably a better QB than the rickety Roethlisberger of 21….and free agency isn’t over and we haven’t even seen the draft yet….but yeah, 4 inter-division games are going to be rough.
I think you misunderstood , I meant missing 4 games in general without Watson is tough in this division. I was not referring to divisional games … nothing was directed to the Steelers specifically , all though on paper they are the ones sitting with limited QB talent and that matters in this league. Possibly them “ being the Steelers” overcome that … Tomlin can’t throw a pass and on paper , his first losing season could be on the horizon. But … that’s why they play the games
My apologies.
The only way to get the NFL’s attention is when fans start boycotting games. Complete with protesters outside of stadiums.
Don’t complain to the Browns or the NFL. Complain to their corporate sponsors. Decades of complaining to the Commanders did nothing to change their racial slur nickname, but a few months of complaining to FedEx did the trick. FirstEnergy Corp. would love to hear what you think about their support of Watson. As well as Medical Mutual, Power Home Solar Care Source, MANCAN Rally’s, Whelan Security, Keurig, Dr Pepper, Value City Furniture, Sugardale. All paying Watson’s salary with their support.
1st Energy has their own problems to work on.
Baker got a raw deal, plain and simple. I hope he goes somewhere in the division next season and lights up the Browns every time they play.
Baker gave his self a Deal, plain and simple. He has WR running wide open and he can’t deliver the Football on time he sits in the pocket and pats the Football 3,4,5 times before he throws it, The WR is not open anymore. And when you have one of the Best WR in the game today and you can’t get him the Football that’s a problem. Baker did this to himself nobody else
Well the Browns helped they picked him #1. That gives him a bit more pressure. He was also not an “adult” when they drafted him. They kind of made the monster child he is. Not taking away from his stunts he pulled in college and HS I am sure. We have Drew Loch as our starter and I.hope he doesn’t come here on a $1 mill deal. Hopefully they get the LT people are saying they get after moving down a few spots. I think most teams want an adult at QB.
Mike Lupica, one of the many White Male Sports Media Figures in NYC, is crying in his Merlot that Mayfield is in limbo. As always Lupica (1) can’t ID any NFL players other than QBs, (2) ignores Andrea Thome’s response, (3) and behaves like a liberal hypocrite.
(Mrs. Thome let it be known that she canceled her Browns season tickets because the club signed Watson. She’s the wife of former Cleveland Indians ballplayer Jim Thome.)
What’s your point exactly? People from both sides think Watson is scum. People other than Lupica think Mayfield got a raw deal. It’s amazing how some people look for any opportunity to turn things political and bash the “other side.”
It’s an open secret that Lupica is a hypocrite. Try to find the last time he called out the New England Patriots for cheating.
But where is the relevance? Why is that important to this topic?
Everyone here acts so mad but they will all tune in every Sunday. Y’all are losers.
This argument is so tired and weak. People can dislike an aspect of a something and still enjoy it. And for those that quit watching because of Watson, why do you care?
Your argument is so tired and weak too. It’s like hating how Taco Bell tastes, complaining about it, yet continue to buy it every week. If you don’t like it, quit supporting it. No one actually cares what Watson did. He wins football games. That’s it. If people like you are so appalled by it (like you act like you are) then you would quit supporting the product you so much hate. But you don’t.
Everything about this comment is absurd. I don’t think everyone sees things as black and white as you do. I’m sorry you think people can only strongly hate or strongly like something with no in between. It must be a stressful way to go through life.
That’s just it. People who love the NFL hate that guys like Watson make you feel gross for watching a sport that you have loved since childhood. That is why people are upset. They want to watch and enjoy a sport with their children, but the guy on the screen is a serial sexual predator. I will turn the channel from a Browns game for sure and hope that ACL justice comes if NFL justice isn’t coming.
22 women care.
Roethlisberger got 6 reduced to 4 based on 2 accusations that (IIRC) neither of which went to a grand jury a decade ago before #MeToo.
VS. 22 that did go to a grand jury in a different environment.
They must have decided they can withstand the backlash.
Winning cures a lot. Once he serves his suspension, most Browns fans will have forgotten it. Lots of quarterbacks are hated by the opposition
Roethlisberger also settled his civil cases, so there’s that. Watson has yet to do so.
Garbage!
So… play Baker for 4 games? Idk if I’d hold out if I were him. He has no leverage, no one wants him at 18M right now. Just smile, play if they need you, and then the only hope for him to start is someone gets injured?
Why suspend more than 2 games. He had involved himself in a fetish transaction of willing participants. Sex work is nearly legal already. And he was always asking. It seems sketchy. But the stigma will dissipate as this old world dissolves.
I’d suggest you either research the facts more, or look up the definition of the word “willing” in the dictionary.
My source is logic. High profile baller and money. I could be wrong. But the law seems to side with me. Some of the girls have been arrested during this possibly for extortion.
Got a link to an arrest or is this just a rumor floating around?
Nowhere have I seen anything reported that you’re claiming about the accusers.
Secondly, the law has said he won’t serve jail time. You’re saying he shouldn’t be suspended more than two games, and NFL eligibility and the law are not intertwined. Playing in the NFL is a privilege, not a right. I’d like to see him permanently banned, but the suspension should be no less than 17 games.
Certainly you’re kidding. You wanted proof on the girls being arrested but do you have proof on what Watson did? If so, you need to contact the authorities
When it’s 1 or 2 accusers, I try not to jump to conclusions. 22 though?! Nah, I don’t need to see a video.
As for wanting proof of what OP is saying, yeah, I do. I’m not going to take some random commenters word for that on here. That could be DeShaun Watson’s cousin for all we know.
How about you take the grand jury’s word for it? No charges. Watson I believe deserves a suspension but maybe 4-6 games. If he were charged with a crime and wasn’t convicted, I’d say maybe 8-17 games.
You mean a secretive grand jury who only needs a majority vote to indict? You mean a grand jury who really looks over evidence? The one in Harris county failed to indict because of lack of evidence? Grand juries are not the same as a jury. They don’t do innocent or guilty they look over evidence for trial.
Exactly. And they apparently thought there was not enough evidence to indict but you, who hasn’t seen any evidence, believes there should have been an indictment. Get over it. Watson is a Cleveland Brown and will serve a 4-6 game suspension. Here we go Brownies here we go. Woof woof.
Did I say he did it? I still don’t know if he is guilty or innocent! He isn’t a saint like the Deshaun fan boys are trying to make him out to be.
This 100%. When the girl was being indicted. They stopped their investigation on Watson gumshoe.
They stopped their investigation after 1 year and it went to a grand jury. That kid of stopping an investigation?