NFL doesn’t like Watson narrative
A few leftover thoughts on the Deshaun Watson 11-game suspension, which became final on Thursday:
• Some inside the NFL don’t seem too pleased with the narrative that it let off Watson lightly. In fairness to the NFL, the 11-game suspension and $5 million fine are indeed the harshest punishments ever handed down by the league for violations of the personal conduct policy. Roger Goodell and the NFL do deserve credit for taking a sixgame suspension and almost doubling it.
But the final punishment does look soft, and it’s the NFL’s doing. The league argued vehemently for an indefinite suspension of at least a year, then didn’t follow through. There really was nothing stopping Goodell and the NFL from imposing the yearlong suspension.
But it looks like it was just the NFL’s negotiating tactic to get Watson to accept a tougher punishment and, most importantly, put the matter to bed. A yearlong suspension would have likely led to a lawsuit, which would have dominated headlines for another year or more. It seems that the NFL’s top priority was to finally be done with this mess.
The NFL did give Watson an unprecedented punishment but diminished its impact by not following through on its threats to suspend him even longer.
• Watson and his agent looked tone deaf on Thursday in playing the victim and showing remorse. So did Browns owners Jimmy and Dee Haslam, who make the situation worse every time they open their mouths.
Jimmy Haslam defended the trade and massive contract for Watson thusly: “Is he never supposed to play again? Is he never supposed to be a part of society? Does he get no chance to rehabilitate himself ? That’s what we’re going to do, OK?”
It’s one thing to give Watson a second chance. It’s another to trade three first-round picks for him, give him a $230 million, fully guaranteed contract that blows every other NFL contract out of the water, and craft the contract so that Watson still makes more than $40 million this season to play just six games.
Haslam finally said the quiet part out loud when he admitted, “You can say that’s because he’s a star quarterback. Well, of course.”
And Dee Haslam tried to confuse the issue by stating that “there’s just a huge opportunity to talk about the major issues in our country in this area, such as sex trafficking, massage parlor use.” Sorry, but Watson’s situation had nothing to do with sex trafficking or massage parlor use. It had everything to do with a predatory star athlete taking advantage of powerless women.
• Meanwhile, what an opportunity for Jacoby Brissett, who signed a oneyear deal for up to $6 million this offseason as Watson insurance. A seasonlong suspension could have led the Browns to acquiring a better starter, such as Jimmy Garoppolo. But 11 games is just short enough for the Browns to give Brissett an opportunity to keep the playoff hopes afloat. Brissett’s backups are a couple of veterans who haven’t done much in the NFL, Joshua Dobbs and Josh Rosen ,so don’t be surprised if they look to add one more veteran passer to the equation (the Raiders’ Nick Mullens perhaps).
Brissett, 29, is 14-23 as a starter with the Patriots, Colts, and Dolphins, but Browns coach Kevin Stefanski has been impressed with Brissett’s leadership.
“He’s an established pro, so the guys certainly respect him,” Stefanski said. “I think back to when we were acquiring Jacoby, and just the phone calls that I made to people who he has played for and people who he has played with. It was very, very consistent that you are getting a pro’s pro, somebody who is going to lead from out in front, works very hard at his craft and just is an outstanding teammate.”