DawgTalkers.net Forums DawgTalk Pure Football Forum Watson: No Way Out

https://www.thescore.com/nfl/news/3064030/key-takeaways-and-analysis-from-week-1-in-the-nfl

NO WAY OUT

Nick Cammett / Getty Images Sport / Getty
Hope springs eternal with every new NFL season, so it's no surprise that we were all forced to entertain the possibility that, by some miracle, Deshaun Watson would once again become a capable starting quarterback.

While Watson's playing time has been sporadic since he joined the Browns in 2022, this season marks his third in Kevin Stefanski's system. Not only has he failed to progress in that time, but one could argue that fading arm talent is actually making him worse.

Accuracy was a major issue for Watson in Sunday's loss to the Cowboys. He completed just 24 of 45 passes for 3.8 yards per attempt while also adding a pair of interceptions and taking six sacks. In any other situation, he'd soon find himself either on the bench or cut. But a truly unfathomable contract situation essentially gives the Browns no such option.

A quarterback with two fully guaranteed $46-million salaries left on his deal is not going to be sitting on the sidelines. The Browns would take a dead-money hit of $173 million to move on from Watson before the 2025 season, so that almost certainly keeps him around for next year's $72.9 million cap hit, too.

There's simply nothing Cleveland can do other than wait out this albatross of a contract and learn from what may be the worst trade and contract in NFL history. Pairing two mistakes of that magnitude together completely wasted an opportunity for a long-suffering organization to build a sustained competitor.

If I owned the team or had a major stake in it, I would have a very hard time knowing that we have a championship caliber roster with a black hole at QB. It's difficult to stomach.

Don't know what the options are, but I'd explore them.

This is the kind of pickle you put yourself in when you move 173 million in dead money to future years playing with the cap. It's disgusting to think that after 3-years, the Browns will still owe 173 million to the cap moving forward in 2025 for Watson. This trade is going to haunt the Browns for years to come. Mayfield is looking a little better every day now, Huh?

Mayfield certainly looks better than Watson. Then again, so does literally every other option

Time to cut the losses. Playing Watson at QB is insane. We deserve better.

I'd play DTR.

After getting smoked yesterday it’s time for a Winston.
I was never a Watson fan going all the way back to college. I thought Hopkins made him look good in Texas. I tried to hold out hope and give him the benefit of the doubt but he’s pretty much been worse than I could have ever imagined. Enough is enough. Ride the pine until the contract is paid out and then dump him. Let Winston take the reins. Maybe he’s got another 5000 yard season in him?

I would go get Flacco (but I'm NOT giving up draft picks). You have nothing to lose. I'll gamble on Flacco's upside over anything Watson has to offer. Do it now!

I'd be good with getting Flacco and adding in some DTR packages

It is Monday after a dumpster inferno in front of cheated fans. Manufacture an alternative immediately.

Who are we tanking for today? This was the "upgraded' offense we hid in the pre-season while DW was kept off the field; benefits were what? The OC/KS partnering stunk up the lake. O Line issues with our part-time tackles. Admittedly. Worse than supposed it could be.

One metric for judging a franchise QB is that he makes everyone around him better; DW pretty methodically did quite the opposite yesterday. What would you say if asked, "What does DW most need to work on this week?" I am not sure what that might be in the glaring fails that I watched.

Others have stronger opinions. FWIW

Let's go through the list of current starting QBs:

Josh Allen
Tua
Aaron Rodgers
Jacoby Brissett
Joe Burrow
Justin Fields
Lamar Jackson
Anthony Richardson
Trevor Lawrence
CJ Stroud
Will Levis **
Patrick Mahomes
Gardner Minshew
Bo Nix **
Justin Herbert
Dak Prescott
Daniel Jones **
Jalen Hurts
Jayden Daniels
Derek Carr
Bryce Young **
Baker Mayfield
Kirk Cousins
Jordan Love
Sam Darnold
Jared Goff
Caleb Williams
Geno Smith
Kyler Murray
Brock Purdy
Matt Stafford


I went through and *starred* the players that I MIGHT take Watson over. How sad is that

Doug Clawson
@doug_clawson
·
3h
Deshaun Watson was 0-10 passing 15+ air yards on Sunday.

It was the worst 0-fer on those throws by any QB in a game since 2006 when air yards were 1st tracked.

Yeah, what was obvious was that he would not throw the ball downfield until the Browns got down 27-3 and were forced to open the playbook.

Either the shoulder is not right, or he has turned into Brady Quinn.

There were a lot of 3rd and longs and he kept throwing them short. Every single time. The Browns might have well punted on 3rd down.

I really have to question Wills and Conklin missing, there was an entire off season to address the issue. Frustrating.

Brady isn't receiving a ton of love on social media, but I found it interesting how many times he said that we were too much "behind the sticks" and were losing on 1st/2nd downs. That was really the narrative of the game for the offense

I didn't think he was all that bad, to be honest.

If it wasn't penalties, it was one person missing on their assignment.

There were at least 4-5 times I remember where the blocking finally held up, and Watson actually found his open man... but then the receiver would drop it or something.


I'm not ready to jump off the cliff just yet. I feel like if we get just 1 of our tackles back then we could be good to go. We picked a HORRENDOUS opponent to put Hudson out there for.



Back to Watson... I was watching one of the Baker Mayfield highlights from yesterday, and it struck me that Watson looked startlingly like what Mayfield looked like when he played himself off the roster.

I know Watson hate is all the rage right now, and he's been bad, but we've seen him be serviceable and even good. I think there is alot more wrong with team than watson.. did anyone actually see the Oline yesterday? who's going to be good behind that? Thats Berry, He has absolutely failed this franchise in so many ways yet he keeps getting love.. I don't get it. Name one player he's drafted that is impactful in a good way? What holes in this team has he addressed? Our biggest one going into the offseason was Oline, LB and RB depth. He did nothing to address any of those with viable options. There is no way you are going into game one against one of the best defenses in NFL at getting after the QB with James freaking hudson. Its like they just ignored all the tape from last year on him. RT with Jones, was good last year, this year he looks like a fat slob and just let himself go during the offseason. Had they played him in the preseason for any length they would have seen that. Last year we saw Ford dance and jig 3 yards behind the line and trip over the yard paint. That hasn't changed. There aren't many QB's going to be successful with no tackles and no running game. But speaking of Kevin stefanski, dude sucks at game planning and roster management. Watson and the first unit absolutely should have played a few series in the preseason. But the game plan yesterday was dumb.. It was chaotic and nothing done to get anyone in rhythm. Had one good drive and then we did none of that rest of game. Yeah Watson was bad yesterday, but so was the whole offense and stefanski. The defense got tired, but they kept leaving the A gap open every single run play and they would cut right to it and get alot of yards.. every.single.time. That game plan from schwartz was horrible. The bottom line it comes down to the whole team not having played a single live snap in 9 months and the camp must have been all about holding hands and singing campfire songs because they weren't doing much in the way of football apparently. Dickerson is a huge downgrade from Callahan and that can't be stressed enough.. Callahan would have found a way to correct as we went along yesterday. To what extent who knows, but the line got worse yesterday as Dallas pinned their ears back and we had no answer. No screens, no misdirection. Just a huge team loss against a potential super bowl team. Outplayed and outcoached. Just like every opener since 99.

Just so we're clear here...............

j/c…

No way out?

So you’re telling me there’s a chance.

get him out

Wasn't there a clause saying that we can void the contract if other sexual misconduct issues arise?

Happy Birthday, jfan.

From the PFT article...

This new case raises plenty of issues, from the standpoint of the league and the Browns. It’s possible that Watson could be subject to further scrutiny under the Personal Conduct Policy. It’s also possible that a suspension — if one is imposed — could give the Browns a path toward voiding his remaining salary guarantees and ending the relationship.

The biggest difference between the latest case and the others is that Watson specifically is accused of sexual assault.

::puts on tin foil hat::

I wonder if some billionaire has had someone sitting on this for a while in a "just-in-case" kind of move, and they're now putting the wheels in motion to get away from this contract. If he magically improves, then the case gets swept under the rug, or delayed a year.

well that's kinda what Houston's owner did to him in the first place

https://www.cbssports.com/nfl/news/...-new-lawsuit-arising-from-2020-incident/

Deshaun Watson sued for sexual assault: Browns QB named in disturbing new lawsuit arising from 2020 incident
Cleveland's signal caller has been accused of sexually assaulting a woman in 2020, according to a new lawsuit

By Will Brinson
4 mins ago•

Cleveland Browns quarterback Deshaun Watson has been accused of a 2020 sexual assault in a lawsuit filed Monday in Texas. The lawsuit, a copy of which has been obtained and reviewed by CBS Sports, was filed by attorney Tony Buzbee, who also represented many of the 25-plus women that previously sued Watson for varying degrees of sexual assault.

The prior lawsuits were settled out of court. The NFL penalized Watson with an 11-game suspension ahead of the 2022 season.

Watson is being accused of sexual assault and battery in the latest lawsuit. The woman, referred to as "Jane Doe," alleges that an extremely disturbing encounter with Watson occurred at her home in October 2020.

"This is an extremely serious matter," Buzbee said in a statement to CBS Sports NFL insider Jonathan Jones. "We intend to pursue this case with the same aggressiveness with which we pursued the others. We want a jury trial. As far as any specific comments on the facts of the case, we believe the lawsuit speaks for itself."

The plaintiff alleges she was approached at a Houston bar by Watson's representatives, which requested her phone number for the quarterback. Doe says she was "flattered" by Watson's approach and gave the representative her phone number; soon after, she and Watson began "texting intermittently" for "several months." Doe subsequently declined an invitation to a Houston Galleria event but claims she invited Watson to have dinner at her apartment.

The lawsuit claims Watson agreed to meet at her apartment, but on the night of Oct. 10, 2020, allegedly called Doe's cellphone "aggressively yelling and screaming" about being unable to find the apartment telling Doe he doesn't "have time for this."

When Watson finally arrived, Doe claims she was not ready as she "had not finished putting on her makeup." She says Watson was invited to sit in the living room as she attempted to make conversation. Hearing nothing in return, Doe says she thought Watson might have left, so she left the bathroom and allegedly "found him completely naked on her bed, lying face down on his stomach."

Doe then claims Watson "turned his head and aggressively insisted that she massage him, gesturing to his buttocks." She describes her reaction as having been "terrified" claiming she "tried to appease Watson by rubbing his back, rather than his buttocks." Watson allegedly "turned over, revealing an erection" then "continued to demand that Jane Doe massage him, gesturing from his knees to his groin."

The plaintiff claims to have told Watson she wasn't a masseuse, to which Watson "asked her what she wanted to do instead." The lawsuit then lists in specific and graphic detail what allegedly occurred next:

Editor's note: The below passage, taken directly from the lawsuit, contains graphic descriptions of alleged sexual assault.

"Before Jane Doe could answer, Watson grabbed Jane Doe's leg and positioned her so that she was lying down. Watson then partially disrobed Jane Doe and penetrated her vagina without consent, implied or explicit. Jane Doe felt paralyzed, unsure if she should risk her safety by trying to stop Watson or endure his assault. Watson roughly sexually assaulted Jane Doe for several minutes in a 'missionary position' before grabbing her and flipping her over. Watson continued to assault Jane Doe from behind. Jane Doe finally gathered the courage and strength to escape Watson. Jane Doe quickly ran to dresser to grab a heavy piece of décor for self-defense, and yelled at Watson [to] get out of her apartment. Enraged, Watson stormed out of Jane Doe's apartment.

The lawsuit, filed in Harris County Court, seeks damages in excess of $1 million because Doe, as a result of Watson allegedly violating three Sections of the Texas Penal Code (indecent exposure, assault and indecent assault), was the alleged victim of someone who created conscious physical and mental pain and suffering, physical impairment, loss of enjoyment of life and peace of mind, reasonable and necessary counseling and therapy and other damages that will be shown at trial.

The standard statute of limitations for cases like this is two years, but in Texas, the statute extends to five years, as noted by Pro Football Talk's Mike Florio,

The NFL declined comment through a spokesperson when contacted by CBS Sports. The Browns have yet to issue a statement on the matter.

What happens next?
This is a civil case, so from a legal perspective, the biggest issue for Watson would be having to pay damages to the plaintiff. However, the NFL could see this case as proof of a personal conduct policy violation or a violation of his negotiated suspension. The Browns, given Watson's notoriously disastrous contract, could potentially seek avenues for voiding part or all of his future guarantees.

Watson's behavior was previously described by NFL commissioner Roger Goodell as "predatory." Goodell said the league believed a full-season ban should have been on the table for the quarterback's initial punishment. Part of Watson's collectively bargained 11-game suspension included the punishment covering any similar incidents from 2019-21. However, the NFL has power to investigate "if any new allegations arise against Watson that are different in nature," according NFL.com.

Unlike prior cases, this lawsuit specifically alleges sexual assault. That could potentially allow it to fall into a different category for the league.

here we go again. this time, he has no ally

Wasn't there a single case from back then that didn't settle? I wonder if this is that.

Call it a conspiracy but it doesn’t add up. We knew that this guy had these issues pending but traded for him anyway. -Presumably we see now that this was to take him off of Houston’s hands. The nfl wanted that entire situation to go away and we stepped in and made it go away for Houston. Why?

In spite of all of the pending charges/lawsuits/embarrassment to the nfl,
we give him a 230+ million dollars guaranteed. - There’s no way that this was consummated out of honesty. It wreaks of a coverup.

He plays sparingly after getting suspended for a portion of a season, gets injured last year and looks like crap beforehand.

He looks like absolute crap yesterday and now all of a sudden another victim is speaking out?


Umm yeah, I’d say that there is a conspiracy and it’s now in the stage to where we’re going to void his contract. - Something that has been in the works for some time. I just want to know what was promised to us for taking Houston’s problem and making it our own problem.

Any normal idiot wouldn’t have touched this guy (no pun intended) with those criminal cases pending. But you’re telling me that a multi-Billionaire and two Ivy League grads pulled the strings on this deal and didn’t see this coming?
No way.

Something isn’t right….

This is not that case.

This was the case you're referring to...

https://www.usatoday.com/story/spor...te-lawsuit-cleveland-browns/70176862007/

Thanks

I am jumping on the conspiracy theory train! Let's go! Woooo Woooo! Void that contract!

AB probably told Tony Buzbee where to look after Watson was having a poor camp.

I saw some language in the contract saying that it was only applicable for the 22-23 season. So, we may still be on the hook even if he is suspended... Obviously, someone would need to deep-dive into the contract to be able to say for sure.

Haven’t read the contract myself of course but it’s worth noting that Florio was a big firm, partner level lawyer in his former life. So he knows how to read a contract. It’s also my intuition that if a suspension is coming it won’t be for a while, maybe not until the off season. So I think we’ll get a full season with DW if he managers to stay healthy.

https://www.nbcsports.com/nfl/profo...roblem-if-case-wasnt-disclosed-to-browns

I understand what the headline is hinting at, but I'm more worried that this case WAS disclosed to the Browns, and they went forward with the trade anyway.

This is what I would do too. I'd be willing to accept the good and the bad, then draft a QB you actually want, and take the time to research it vs making a knee jerk reaction and throwing money at a supposed hot commodity (Watson).

Flacco plays for the Colts. How would we get him?

The Flacco thing is absurd. It’s not going to happen. Winston will get the nod if Watson is pulled. He’s already in the roster.