Tough to celebrate Walker's re-signing and Hooper's release with Watson's decision looming. Absolutely gutted that we're moving on from Mayfield -- especially the way the F/O conducted themselves during it -- but I am dead serious that they'll lose a fan for life if they bring Watson on board.
I'm sorry if you took it that way but I was being honest. Berry and Stefanski want to win. They watched, within their own division what a dynamic QB can do for as struggling franchise and that's what they want. And they aren't afraid to hurt some feelings to get there. The ability to self scout is one that many teams (and fans to be fair) struggle with. That's what this about. It's about winning. Nothing more, nothing less.
I'm not convinced Baker will be gone in 2022, but definitely in 2023. More so out of need than anything else. I don't think they will find a replacement. Baker will be Baker and excel when everyone said he couldn't then leave to the highest bidder and I will congratulate him rather than ridicule him.
I'm not making fun of you. I get it. You wanted Baker 9 months before he got here and you aren't ready to give up. The Browns are. They want their Joe Burrow. They want arm talent.
I get it but it you guys have had no problem rooting for Hunt. If you were in the Brandon Weeden era and this opportunity presented itself I think you'd be a little more forgiving. As much as you dislike it, Berry and Stefanski only keep their jobs if they win and self preservation has become the only thing that matters it appears in the 2020s. Maybe not to you and me. But we don't really count.
To be fair, many have already been outed for looking for a pay day, so the true number isn't 22. But largely I agree, there has to be some fire in all that smoke.
I tend to agree with everything you said here . . . except the last sentence. NFL franchises are For Profit organizations. 31 out of 32 of them are owned by individuals that have ponied up a sizeable amount of money and, rightfully so, expect a return on investment. Winning games is at, or near, the top of the to-do list to maximize that ROI.
Actually, I think a lot of us did struggle with Hunt. I was a big Kareem guy all the way through that draft and was a bit more forgiving than the other guys, but it wasn't an easy decision for everyone. It's also some whataboutism that we can happily get into... Kareem had a single incident involving flared tempers and alcohol. What Watson is being accused of displays a pattern of predatory behavior towards some of the most vulnerable people out there. Brandon Weeden was a trash QB. Baker Mayfield is not. To be quite clear: I am deeply upset moving on from Mayfield, but I'm not threatening my fan-card for the move. I get the business side of it. I posted earlier, but if the team knew this was coming and is trying to upgrade, they should have aggressively pursued Russell Wilson, who is many things - two of which are (1) a better QB than Deshaun Watson and (2) a better person than Deshaun Watson. Again... the business side of the league isn't lost on anyone here. Cleveland fans were probably split on the future of Mayfield prior to this offseason and his future was certainly in doubt beyond 2022. What we've seen is a precipitous dive into morally wrong territory in a desperate attempt to chase wins. The F/O isn't showing confidence in their own abilities to get the few tweaks needed from 2021 corrected to re-group and make another push next year... they're hitting the hard reset on the program and team and going nuclear with a toxic asset because they hope it will cover their own short-comings.
In any offense. They need a guy to make teams pay in play action. They have everything else they need. Great o-line, great backs, TE depth (okay maybe not as much now) and they will find a few more WR options. There's absolutely zero reason a guy playing on this team with this running game should have a 62% completion % and a 7.3 ypa. It's just not good enough. The running game has created so many opportunities for the QB and he hasn't converted. And I know you guys have seen it. There are too many balls out of his hand that just leave me shaking my head. Too high, too low, behind. No reason for it. The offense is too QB friendly.
Can't say I've read everything on the subject but the worst thing I recall reading was he directed a massage therapists hand to his crotch. If true, it's wrong in every way, unacceptable behavior, but not rape. And when I think of "predatory" behavior I think rape. And it did go in front of a grand jury and they didn't charge him. So how strong could the evidence be? There's an old saying out there about grand juries and indicting ham sandwiches or something like that. My understanding is it doesn't take much evidence to indict. Honestly, just creepy talking about it. But I'm not sure it's fair to call him a predator. Which was my point. You have someone you like, you'd rather pass on Watson. If you were watching Weeden week in and week out maybe you'd be more forgiving. Well apparently the only team Russ was willing to go to was Denver and I'm not sure how many more years he's going to play so probably fortunate that didn't happen. I see it differently. I see a franchise that embraced Baker, built up the team around him, attempted to give him all the weapons he needed and he didn't deliver for them. And although everyone else is playing up an injury to his non-throwing shoulder the team doesn't see it the same way. They believe he has limitations and they are great enough that they aren't going to get where they wanna get. They want to win a championship and if he can't get them there they aren't going to waste another season. They are moving forward.
I'm beginning to have some doubts. Any prosecutor taking a case to the Grand Jury for a criminal offense would , no doubt, take the individual case or cases which had the greatest preponderance of evidence to end up officially indicting the individual and going to trial. In Watson's case, the Grand Jury didn't see enough to indict Watson. I'm fully aware that criminal indictments and civil charges have different standards for coming to a verdict. And I fully expect the cases (individuals) that were rejected by the Grand Jury for criminal charges will still be included in the civil proceedings.
You may want to read up a bit more on the subject, then. Despite the nine criminal complaints, the grand jury only requested to hear from one victim. Watson plead the fifth. Again, upgrading the QB isn't the problem. Upgrading the QB with Watson is the issue I have. The only team that pursued him that he was open to was Denver. Big difference. He went 11-5 in 2020 and was a truly awful officiating non-call away from the AFC Championship game. He went 6-8 in 2021 with multiple injuries, a fractured locker room, and numberous coaching issues on both offense and defense. Despite the adversity, the team wasn't eliminated from playoffs in 2021 until the second-to-last week. 18-14 (including 1-1 in the postseason) in two seasons. It's one thing to say "Baker hasn't earned a market-level contract yet" (I don't disagree). It's another thing to say "Baker is not in our plans moving forward".
In reading a bit further, 10 of the 22 women suing him in civil court have filed criminal complaints against him. 8 of those 10 women appeared in front of the grand jury. I think it's reasonable to assume the 10 women filing criminally are alleging the most damning things. If 8 of those women spoke at the grand jury hearing and they didn't indict him how strong is the evidence? I don't know but I know that teams were doing investigations of their own and apparently a bunch of them are okay with what they found.
Because eight of the 10 didn't speak. Only one did. Deshaun Watson grand jury wanted to hear from only one alleged victim
IMHO, the civil suit side of this smells a lot like the typical ambulance chasing lawyer. These guys know that, if you throw one strand of spaghetti at the wall, it may or may not stick. But if you throw 10 or 20 strands of spaghetti at the wall, your odds of one of them sticking goes up.
So I guess the question is.. Are you ok having the face of the franchise “exposing himself to multiple women in the hopes that they will pleasure him sexually”? What is acceptable?
