Throughout his tenure at Clemson and his early years as a Houston Texan, Deshaun Watson was regarded as a leader of men and a decent human being. However, over the span of 15 months, his positive image blurred, and rightfully so. The Watson affair started back in 2021 shortly after the star QB requested a trade from Houston. Promptly, 22 sexual assault cases were filed against him.
The situation definitely created reluctance and disinterest for most teams looking for a change. On the other hand, others, such as the Dolphins, continued the pursuit, but the deal fell through due to his unresolved cases.
Fast forward to 2022. Despite the allegations and uncertainty, the Cleveland Browns sold the farm for Watson and rewarded him with a massive fully-guaranteed contract. In 2021, Cleveland definitely underachieved although they dealt with many setbacks including injuries to Baker Mayfield. Even after his shortcomings, Baker still led the team to their first playoff game in many years.
But no matter, Cleveland cast aside Mayfield for Watson and signed Jacoby Brissett to back up Watson. Since March, Baker (and his wife) has sought a trade or release but appears to be untouchable for most, if not all teams.
So will the Browns regret trading for Deshaun Watson? He is an elite talent and a definite upgrade over Baker Mayfield. And for some time, it looked like Watson would avoid suspension. But now the evidence is overwhelmingly in favor of the now 24 civil suits and attorney Tony Buzbee. Suspicions and evidence continue to grow.
Apparently, Watson booked 60+ massages since 2019. Watson’s lawyer Rusty Hardin went on record to say that some questionable acts committed during the massages were not illegal, which is not entirely true. If and when Watson gets suspended, it should be for a lot longer than 6-8 weeks. If it goes on for more than a year, it could destroy the Cleveland Browns. The Browns gave up many draft picks. If they perform poorly in 2022, 2023, and 2024, those picks could have been premium. The window for the Browns is short and could be closing quicker than they hope.
