The Cleveland Browns turned a lot of heads when they traded for Deshaun Watson during the NFL off-season. Speaking strictly in football terms, it's not a bad move: Watson is miles ahead of Baker Mayfield in terms of talent. When you consider that Watson had 22 pending sexual assault cases at the time, though, the move starts to get more confusing.
The Browns decided to one-up themselves, though, handing Deshaun Watson a fully-guaranteed $230 million contract despite a potential suspension. At the time, the decision puzzled fans and owners alike. Now, though, that contract is looking mighty awful, as a devastating punishment is coming down on Watson.
Forget being suspended for a year: the NFL is reportedly looking at an INDEFINITE suspension for Deshaun Watson! A bombshell report from the Wall Street Journal says that the NFL is looking at that exact punishment. The league reportedly is looking at a one-year suspension at the very least.
According to the article, the NFL is confident they have the ammunition to justify this punishment. That's bad news for the Browns.
“While the NFL will present a broad array of the cases to the neutral arbitrator, it has zeroed in on five that league officials believe are particularly damning. Those include contemporaneous evidence that the league thinks make them objectively provable.”
After guaranteeing all $230 million of Watson's contract, the QB may not play for the Browns… at all! That was always the risk of trading for Watson. No one knew what punishment the NFL would inevitably give him. It's why teams were hesitant to trade for him despite his obvious talent.
Watson and the NFLPA will inevitably try to negotiate a softer sentence for the Browns QB. Still, if Watson doesn't play a single minute this season, this is already a terrible move from Cleveland.
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