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.
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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 $1M. That’ll significantly limit the hit will face if/when the quarterback is penalized.
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