I can't (and won't) speak for everybody, but personally, I follow this management team because they're head and shoulders better than Randy Lerner and the litany of schmucks he brought in as Head Coach and General Manager.
Wow. It reads that the NFL and NFLPA agreed to this so there should be no further appeals. A little over 2% of his guaranteed contract value as a fine in addition to the 11 games. I'm not actually sure who won on this outside of Watson himself
That depends... 1) All but one alleged victim settled, so 23 have won on that side 2) The NFL and NFLPA get to put it behind them, so they win. 3) Women's abuse groups receive $7,000,000 in donations, so they win 4) The Browns win the Watson lottery and he begins play THIS year as opposed to 2023 or beyond., so compared to losing him indefinitely, they win 5) Steelers and Ravens fans win because it gives them a reason to boo the Browns every time they play them for the next 5 years Ironically, the only one that MIGHT NOT win in this is Watson, if he really is innocent the way he is declaring in an interview right now. I'm saying this hypothetically of course, as I haven't changed my mind that he did some egregious things to women.
Watson won big because of the aforementioned 6 games. His 5 year, 230M contract was in jeopardy of becoming 6 years, 231M. Massive save.
NFL cares more about the storyline ahead of a scheduled game than they do about getting it right for female victims. Color me surprised.
In this case, I truly believe they just caved to avoid the case going to court. Even if they had their 1 year suspension held up in court, it would have cost 100's of thousands of $ for the league. In the end, they nearly doubled the games handed down and added a fine to the discipline. I think it was a hard line from NFLPA/Watson to not toll his contract, that's where the 11 games came from. The maximum games allowed to complete his current contract year.
From this aspect, the Browns lost. The Browns would have been in much better shape (long term) had his contract been tolled.
I found this interesting... per, PFT. When the Browns traded for Deshaun Watson and gave him a fully-guaranteed contract earlier this year, the team was adamant that they had fully vetted the sexual misconduct allegations against Watson and that they were comfortable moving forward with him as their quarterback. Watson had denied all allegations and that time and continued to deny doing anything wrong as more allegations came to light, but he ultimately settled the civil lawsuits against him and Thursday brought word of a settlement between the NFL and NFLPA that resulted in an 11-game suspension and a $5 million fine for Watson. After that settlement was announced, Browns General Manager Andrew Berry was asked if the team would make the same decisions regarding Watson after what has unfolded over the last few months. “Yes, we would,” Berry said. “We mentioned at the time our process was thorough, we felt like we made an informed decision. I understand why others may not have made the same decision that we did, but we do believe Deshaun has strong, positive qualities and we do think that he’s done everything in his power to integrate himself with our team. He’s done everything we’ve asked. We do believe that, as he goes through the self-improvement and self-growth process, that he has an opportunity to make a strong and positive contribution to our team and organization.” Browns owner Jimmy Haslam also said he’d make the trade again and that they strongly believe Watson deserves a chance to “rehabilitate himself” as a member of the team. Watson continued to maintain his innocence at his own press conference on Thursday, which calls into question whether that’s something the quarterback has any interest in doing in the days, weeks, months, and years to come. _________ ____________________ They (Andrew Berry especially) really covet this guy. I hope it works out for Browns fans, but i question the strong attraction to Watson still after all has been said and done.
There is zero chance they would admit that they wouldn't have signed him had they known everything they know now. Of course, they are going to continue to affirm their decision.
I think your right after further review... I guess its too hard to admit there may have been a mistake or oversight involved.
Also feels like if they were given truth serum there's zero chance they make this move, equipped with everything they know now. Again, they didn't get Tom Brady, Josh Allen, Pat Mahomes, Russell Wilson, Justin Herbert, Aaron Rodgers, Joe Burrow, Derek Carr, Kirk Cousins, Dak Prescott, or even freaking Lamar Jackson. They got a guy who's the master of garbage time stats, who quit on his former team, and who's last action (over 700 days ago by the time he gets back from suspension) saw him taking a 10-6 squad to a 4-12 finish.
{sigh} You have zero direct knowledge to make that statement. (Unless you personally sat down and talked to Watson, Berry, Haslam or Stefanski prior to March, 2022.)
Additionally . . . After the settlement agreement was announced, Jimmy Haslam was specifically asked, "knowing what you know now, would you still make the trade?" Without hesitation he responded, "Yes."
Like Lym, I’ll only speak for myself. Although I don’t like/agree with many of the decisions made by the current management team for the Browns, I’m stuck with them. I’ve followed the Browns since childhood and am not about to change. What I do find ,is that I’m disgusted with how the NFL has handled the whole situation, and in the end, I am losing interest in the “product” that the NFL is selling.
Oh for fuck's sake Lym. We could apply that to 95% of the things posted in here. Do I need to stick a < In my opinion...> before every comment?
