Deshaun Watson

Latest On Browns’ Deshaun Watson

April 10th, 2022 at 8:14pm CST by Zachary Links

None of the lawsuits against Browns quarterback Deshaun Watson will go to trial during the season, Adam Ferrise of the Cleveland Plain Dealer hears. It’s still possible that Watson’s 22 accusers could call him to court, but those trials won’t take place between August 1 of this year and March 1 of 2023, per the agreement struck by the lawyers handling the matter.

It remains to be seen whether Watson would face 22 separate trials or one trial to consolidate them all. Watson’s camp would prefer the latter and, based on the previous round of talks, would only consider settling with all 22 accusers at once. Publicly, Watson’s reps say that they’re not looking to settle at all.

NFL commissioner Roger Goodell has kept the door open to suspension, though Watson is on track to take the field in Week 1 as of this writing.

“The civil cases were in play over the last year,” Goodell said recently. “The only thing that’s changed is the criminal element has been at least resolved, and that was an important element in the context of the Commissioner Exempt List as discussed with the Players Association. So that was an important (decision as it relates to the Commissioner Exempt List).

“If the criminal had proceeded, that more than likely would have triggered the Commissioner Exempt. I think at this point, the civil case in and of itself would not do that. If there’s a violation of the Personal Conduct Policy, that may trigger something, but that more than likely trigger some kind of discipline in some fashion.”

Anticipating a suspension at some juncture, the Browns reduced Watson’s 2022 base salary to $1MM. That’ll significantly limit the hit will face if/when the quarterback is penalized.

Deshaun Watson Could Be Suspended For Only Four Games; “No Market” For Baker Mayfield

April 3rd, 2022 at 10:36am CST by Rory Parks

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).

Browns Won’t Push Deshaun Watson To Settle Suits

April 2nd, 2022 at 11:24am CST by Zachary Links

Deshaun Watson has a brand new team, but he still has 22 civil lawsuits to face. While other interested clubs wanted Watson to settle those suits before a potential trade, the Browns will not push him to do the same, as Mary Kay Cabot of Cleveland.com writes.

“That’s up to them,’’ owner Jimmy Haslam said. “He feels very strongly that he did nothing wrong. We have confidence in Deshaun and his legal team. They’ll make good decisions.”

That’s been the position of Watson’s camp too — the quarterback maintains that his overall innocence and refuses to settle. The Browns — who have furnished Watson with a fully guaranteed $230MM contract — are on board with that plan.

In the meantime, the NFL will hold off on any possible suspension. The league office wants to avoid a situation where they levy a suspension, then have to adjust it later based on new information. Still, their own investigation continues – at least ten of the 22 women have filed suit against Watson have spoken with NFL officials.

Watson’s contract calls for just $1MM in base pay this year, which would limit any fines imposed against him. Most of Watson’s 2022 money has already been delivered / placed in escrow by way of his signing bonus.

While the Browns wait to see how that all shakes out, they’ll work to find a suitable trade for former starter Baker Mayfield.

Haslam: Browns GM Proposed Fully Guaranteed Deshaun Watson Deal

March 30th, 2022 at 4:27pm CST by Sam Robinson

The Browns’ decision to make a major quarterback upgrade has generated multifront pushback, given Deshaun Watson‘s off-field trouble and the contract structure’s effect on other teams’ future QB negotiations. The fully guaranteed $230MM did not surface until late in the process.

Watson initially rejected the Browns, and Jimmy Haslam said third-year GM Andrew Berry approached him with a radical idea to put the team back in the mix for the Pro Bowl passer. Berry pitched the idea of a fully guaranteed contract to move the needle, Haslam said. The result: a five-year deal that saw the Browns break the NFL’s record for fully guaranteed money authorized by $80MM.

“I don’t how much Andrew knew,” Haslam said of other teams’ contract offers, via the Akron Beacon Journal’s Nate Ulrich. “First of all, I don’t know what’s accurate. [Berry] just said, ‘Would we consider fully guaranteeing it?’ OK. What’s that mean? When’s the money due? Do you do four versus five [years]. Can we make this work? And he got us comfortable with that.”

Although four teams were finalists for Watson, it appears just one was willing to go to this extreme place. Watson refusing to waive his no-trade clause for the Browns may well have centered on Cleveland’s weather compared to the three NFC South cities in this mix. Browns co-owner Dee Haslam said Wednesday she believed this was the case. While Berry’s fully guaranteed pitch is quite the step to convince a quarterback to play in northeast Ohio, Watson had three other teams pursuing him.

The Falcons were on the verge of landing the Atlanta-area native, appearing to finish second ahead of the Saints and Panthers in this unusual pursuit. The Panthers were not comfortable guaranteeing the final two years of Watson’s contract, Ulrich adds, and Arthur Blank did not make it sound like the Falcons were prepared to authorize this landmark guarantee, either. Blank said the Falcons were only doing due diligence when they met with Watson, though the team being later reported as on the verge of landing him would contradict the owner’s view of his team’s interest.

“You have to leave that to Jimmy and Dee Haslam, to make their own judgment,” Blank said, via USA Today’s Jarrett Bell. “The fact it’s $80MM above the highest contract ever given, guaranteed, in the history of the league, 102 years old, says a lot. Whether most teams in the NFL or any other team in the NFL would have committed to that contract, I don’t know. That certainly is a huge commitment.”

It is interesting contract matters played into these talks, considering Watson had only played one season on the $39MM-per-year deal he signed with the Texans in 2020. Technically, Watson was tied to that contract for two years, since Houston deactivated him throughout the 2021 season. But that Texans deal ran through 2025. Watson having a no-trade clause gave him considerable power, and the bidding war led to the Browns making an offer he could not refuse.

Latest On Potential Deshaun Watson Discipline

March 29th, 2022 at 7:16pm CST by Ben Levine

Two grand juries didn’t criminally charge Deshaun Watson with any crimes, but the Browns’ new quarterback still faces 22 civil lawsuits that will make him subject to discipline. Commissioner Roger Goodell said today that there’s no timetable on potential discipline for the QB, but he did keep the door open for a suspension, according to ESPN’s Adam Schefter (on Twitter). Meanwhile, Charean Williams of ProFootballTalk.com relays that Watson will only be subject to a suspension under the Personal Conduct Policy, meaning the QB won’t land on the Commissioner Exempt List.

“The civil cases were in play over the last year,” Goodell said (via Williams). “The only thing that’s changed is the criminal element has been at least resolved, and that was an important element in the context of the Commissioner Exempt List as discussed with the Players Association. So that was an important (decision as it relates to the Commissioner Exempt List).

Watson still faces 22 civil lawsuits alleging sexual assault. We heard previously that the NFL was unlikely to act on a Watson suspension until his civil trials conclude. The league’s investigation is ongoing. Anticipating a suspension, the Browns previously reduced Watson’s 2022 base salary to $1MM, which will significantly limit the financial penalties the quarterback will face if/once the NFL’s ban is handed down.

Latest On Ravens’ Lamar Extension Effort

March 29th, 2022 at 6:55pm CST by Sam Robinson

Employing a quarterback who has largely not pushed for an extension, the Ravens continue to move toward an unusual place. Speaking with reporters for the first time in years, Steve Bisciotti is not certain Lamar Jackson will be extended before the season starts.

The longtime Ravens owner put the ball in Jackson’s court, indicating the fifth-year passer has not gone to GM Eric DeCosta and said he wants to proceed seriously on an extension. Jackson has said he wants to be a Raven for the rest of his career, but the self-represented QB made those comments during the 2021 offseason. No momentum has emerged toward an extension, despite talks beginning in April of last year.

“Unless he has a change of heart and calls Eric and says I’m ready. But it’s like, Eric can’t keep calling him and say, ‘Hey Lamar, you really need to get in here and get this thing done,'” Bisciotti said of the prospect of an extension occurring this offseason, via The Athletic’s Jeff Zrebiec (on Twitter).

The Ravens not extending Jackson before his fourth season pushes him toward Dak Prescott and Kirk Cousins territory. The latter used two franchise tags as a path out of Washington. Jackson has a longer road to completing Cousins’ strategy, with the fifth-year option delaying a potential two-tag route. Although the Ravens’ contract-year QB would not make it to free agency until 2025 via the Cousins blueprint, Bisciotti offering up a Cousins comparison Tuesday is certainly notable.

“Kirk Cousins did it that way. What if Lamar says that? I’ll play on the fifth-year, I’ll play on the franchise, I’ll play on another franchise and then you can sign me,” Bisciotti said, via ESPN.com’s Jamison Hensley. “And that gives me three years to win the Super Bowl so you can make me a $60MM quarterback, because that’s where it will be four years from now.

“That might be the case, but I don’t talk to Lamar. It’s not my role. I don’t know the answer.”

Cleveland’s Deshaun Watson contract has drawn scrutiny among owners and various personnel execs at this week’s meetings, CBS Sports’ Jason La Canfora notes. It may change the game for quarterbacks. Watson’s off-field issues did not stop the Browns from greenlighting a fully guaranteed $230MM contract. This will certainly come up in every quarterback’s negotiation for the foreseeable future.

Cousins saw his first Vikings contract fully guaranteed four years ago, but Watson’s guarantee dwarfs that three-year, $84MM deal. The Ravens might not be ready to follow the Browns’ new QB blueprint. Jackson, 24, is two years younger than Watson and has the former Texans QB matched in Pro Bowls, with three. The 2019 MVP award stands as a rather key bullet point on Jackson’s resume as well, though the run-centric signal-caller’s style injects more risk into this equation for both sides. The issue of longevity stands to be part of these talks.

“It’s like, ‘Damn, I wish they hadn’t guaranteed the whole contract.’ I don’t know that he should’ve been the first guy to get a fully guaranteed contract,” Bisciotti said, via Zrebiec (Twitter links). “To me, that’s something that is groundbreaking, and it’ll make negotiations harder with others. But it doesn’t necessarily mean that we have to play that game, you know? We shall see.”

Teams with franchise QBs on the extension radar — like the Cardinals, Broncos and Bengals — will be monitoring the Ravens’ Jackson actions. For what it’s worth, Harbaugh remains confident (video link) Jackson will be extended. The recently extended HC has expressed this confidence for over a year. No Jackson extension or restructure by Week 1 will mean he starts the season on a $23MM fifth-year option salary.

Colts GM: Matt Ryan To Start For At Least Two Seasons

March 28th, 2022 at 7:51pm CST by Sam Robinson

The Colts will soon be one of the few teams in NFL history to deploy a different Week 1 starting quarterback in six straight seasons, but Chris Ballard communicated with his new starter he will be the one to stop the merry-go-round.

Indianapolis’ sixth-year GM told Matt Ryan he will be the Colts’ starting quarterback for at least two seasons, before the team determines its next path. Ryan’s 2018 extension agreement runs through 2023.

“I wanted to make sure Matt knew that there’s no doubt it’s going to be two years,” Ballard said, via the Indianapolis Star’s Joel Erickson. “And I think we’ll go from there. I think we’ll know. I think both parties will know as we move forward.”

Ryan, 37 in May, has not indicated retirement resides on his near-future radar. The Colts acquired Ryan’s Falcons contract last week, and after the 15th-year passer entered March with what would have been an NFL-record $48.7MM cap number, his 2022 Indy figure comes in at just $18.7MM. The Falcons absorbed a league-record $40MM dead-money hit, and Erickson tweets the Colts converted some of Ryan’s money to a $12MM signing bonus. Ryan’s 2023 cap figure, thanks to a $10MM roster bonus currently guaranteed for injury, checks in at $35.2MM.

The Colts began the past five seasons with Scott Tolzien, Andrew Luck, Jacoby Brissett, Philip Rivers and Carson Wentz, respectively, at quarterback. Brissett logged the most snaps, replacing Tolzien early in 2017, but the team has not started the same passer in back-to-back seasons under Ballard. The Colts traded Wentz shortly after the Combine, where they did some legwork on Ryan at the Indy-stationed gathering. The Falcons discussed Ryan’s trade value at the Combine, Albert Breer of SI.com notes. They were told Ryan’s contract made anything more than a fourth-rounder difficult, and when the Colts-Falcons trade talks commenced in earnest, Ballard said that was the best he could do. The Falcons talked the Colts up to a third-rounder (No. 82 overall).

Atlanta’s Deshaun Watson investigation process began last season, when the team heard the disgruntled Texans quarterback had interest in playing for his hometown team. The Falcons did not communicate their Watson interest to Ryan until the former was cleared by the first of the two grand juries involved in this saga, Breer adds, noting that the Colts as a Ryan trade suitor before Watson had made his decision. Shortly after Watson chose the Browns, Arthur Smith asked Ryan if he would be interested in the Colts. Ryan soon confirmed he was, leading to the teams’ March 21 deal.

Indianapolis does not have a first-round pick this year, but the team could be back on the radar for a Round 1 QB prospect in 2023. But the Colts and Ryan are hopeful he can play beyond that point.

“If we decided to make a move on a quarterback, that’s definitely a conversation we would have,” Ballard said, via Erickson, of keeping Ryan informed on his potential successor. “In the world that I’ve been living in since Andrew retired, the whole organization, it’d be nice to get some stability where we have a guy for two, three, four years that can play and give us some continuity.”

Eagles Made “Competitive Offer” For Marcus Williams; Latest On WR, QB Pursuits

March 27th, 2022 at 11:40am CST by Rory Parks

The Eagles have signed edge defender Haason Reddick and wide receiver Zach Pascal this offseason and otherwise have been mostly quiet in terms of adding outside talent. But that hasn’t been for lack of trying.

As Tim McManus of ESPN.com (subscription required) writes, Philadelphia made an effort to sign former Saints safety Marcus Williams. Per Jeff McLane of the Philadelphia Inquirer (subscription required), the Eagles made a competitive offer to Williams, who ultimately signed a five-year, $70MM contract with the Ravens.

GM Howie Roseman also took some big swings at other positions. We already knew that the club nearly completed a trade for Falcons wideout Calvin Ridley before news of his gambling suspension surfaced, and according to McLane, the Eagles also had interest in WR Robert Woods. Woods was under contract with the Rams and was recently traded to the Titans, but Los Angeles gave him a say in his next destination, and he chose Tennessee over Philadelphia.

Precipitating the Rams’ trade of Woods was the club’s acquisition of Allen Robinson, whom Roseman also pursued. But Robinson, like Woods and most other notable players changing teams this offseason, elected to go elsewhere.

As McLane writes, the Eagles’ status as an also-ran when it comes to this year’s open market talent pool is perhaps a function of how players outside the organization view Philadelphia’s chances to compete in 2022. And, of course, a team’s chances to compete are inextricably linked to that team’s QB.

While it is unfair to exclusively blame incumbent signal-caller Jalen Hurts for the Eagles’ inability to make more FA or trade acquisitions thus far in 2022, McLane confirms that the Eagles were interested in Deshaun Watson and Russell Wilson, and he believes that Roseman will continue to do everything he can to find an upgrade over Hurts.

That could mean using one of his three first-round picks in next month’s draft on a passer, though McLane thinks that Roseman will not do so and will instead trade one of those picks to enhance his draft capital in 2023, when the QB prospects are expected to be better than this year’s crop. And assuming that the Eagles do not draft a quarterback this year, and do not view a trade candidate like Jimmy Garoppolo or Baker Mayfield as a worthy investment, then Hurts will get another chance to prove his long-term value.

Latest On Deshaun Watson Investigation

March 26th, 2022 at 4:39pm CST by Sam Robinson

Despite Deshaun Watson‘s off-field issues surfacing more than a year ago, it is not certain his NFL punishment will be known by the time the 2022 season begins.

Watson said Friday his plan remains not to settle any of the civil lawsuits filed against him, via Sarah Barshop and Jake Trotter of ESPN.com, and has continued to maintain the allegations of sexual assault and sexual misconduct are without merit. With the criminal cases not producing charges, the civil part of this saga shifts to the forefront regarding NFL discipline. Players do not have to be charged with crimes to be suspended, and the expectation remains the Browns’ new quarterback will be banned for an undetermined stretch.

The NFL is unlikely to act on a Watson suspension until his civil trial concludes, with Ian Rapoport of NFL.com noting the league does not want to levy discipline and then see new information come out that forces an adjustment to that discipline (video link). The league’s investigation is ongoing. At least 10 of the 22 women who have filed suit against Watson have spoken with the league, Mark Maske of the Washington Post tweets. The league has not interviewed Watson, with Rapoport adding that is this investigation’s final step.

The attorney for the 22 accusers who have filed civil suits, Tony Buzbee, said 17 Watson depositions remain on the docket. Buzbee expects four additional women to join the suit against Watson, who has two depositions scheduled for next week, per ESPN. With Watson not planning to settle, this matter stands to drag on for a while longer.

Anticipating a suspension, the Browns reduced Watson’s 2022 base salary to $1MM, which will significantly limit the financial penalties the quarterback will face if/once the NFL’s ban is handed down. The prospect of Watson not being suspended by Week 1 would put the NFL in an interesting situation. The Texans deactivated Watson throughout the 2021 season, but the NFL would be forced to make a decision regarding the commissioner’s exempt list if a suspension does not surface by Week 1. If Watson is not placed on the list in this scenario, it opens the door to the QB starting the season and facing an in-season suspension, a la Ezekiel Elliott in 2017. The league was not prepared to place Watson on the exempt list last year, and Elliott did not land on the list five years ago. The Cowboys running back played eight games before being suspended that year.

Second Texas Grand Jury Does Not Charge Browns QB Deshaun Watson

March 24th, 2022 at 4:20pm CST by Sam Robinson

A Brazoria County, Texas, grand jury did not charge Deshaun Watson in connection with a sexual assault allegation, the Houston Chronicle’s Brooks Kubena reports.

A separate grand jury from the Harris County, Texas, contingent was empaneled because of a 10th criminal complaint against the Browns quarterback. Although this accusation was separated from the nine criminal complaints that prompted a Harris County grand jury to convene, the Browns were aware of it upon trading for Watson, per the QB’s attorney. The previous grand jury also did not indict Watson.

The woman who made this accusation in April 2021 said Watson sexually assaulted and harassed her during a massage therapy session. This incident allegedly occurred in 2020, Aaron Wilson of ProFootballNetwork.com notes. This closes the book on Watson criminal charges, but the complainant is one of the 22 women who have filed civil lawsuits against the 26-year-old quarterback.

The civil matters have yet to play out in full. The attorney for the 22 accusers who have filed civil suits, Tony Buzbee, said 17 additional Watson depositions are still on the docket, Sarah Barshop and Jake Trotter of ESPN.com report. Buzbee added four more women are expected to join the civil suit against Watson, which would up the total number of accusers to 28 (two of Watson’s initial accusers did not file suit).

The NFL is investigating the recently traded passer as well, but the developments in the civil trial will go a long way toward determining how the league will proceed regarding a suspension. Watson is expected to be suspended for at least six games, though that is not certain. The former Texans Pro Bowler could face a longer ban.

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