Simmons Mike Florio here for
as long as we need to break down the significant news that
isn't shocking but still feels jarring. We finally have
a ruling, a decision, a settlement
in the DeShaun Watson situation,
11 game suspension,
5 million dollar, fine. And this came about
in a strange, sort of way and Miles gets a gold star
because he texted to the PFT group
that the brownson
Delayed their media availability for Thursday
that got me to put on my reporter hat. I moved the to
pay aside, put on the hat with a little press card in it and
started poking around and it turned out there was news and
Miles. I don't know if you saw this.
I mean you saw the press release that someone tweeted.
Apparently
it was accidentally posted by the league on its
Communications website. Someone in the Watson Camp said to me.
Now you know why we don't trust the
Fellas processes.
Well okay, I mean that makes sense because I mean we're sort
of going back and forth on the PFT text Shane after I had sent
that and then you found this, you know,
screenshot of the PDF and said, I don't know if this is real
and it was, you know, posted by somebody the sky Joseph past
eras
if I'm reading that correctly
and this is proof of the DeShaun Watson really. So I'd
go on the NFL Communications website and by that time it had
already been taken down. So, So
I don't know how this guy found it but you know kudos to him as
well for effectively scooping everybody else we when it comes
to the DeShaun Watson settlement, right? Place right
time. And what I did was I started sending that link to
people. I know because I figure if they see
it and it's real,
what are they going to say?
What are they going to say?
Yeah. And why, one of the one of the people said right there
it is. There it is, that's it, eleven games, five million
dollars suspension plus another million
each eye by assume. It's a million each from the NFL in the
It's another two million
so it's going to be a 7 million dollar fund. That's contributed
to nonprofits. That
that deal with issues like this, sexual misconduct lack of
consent, understanding the appropriate and inappropriate
behaviors in
this and other types of situations. But you know, miles
let's start with the duration of the suspension. I think it's
as simple as
Watson was it 10.
The NFL was it 12 as they go back and forth, its horse trading.
That's how this This works, you go back and forth
and you dig in at 10,
you dig in at 12 and short of allowing them to come back in
the third quarter of a game, right? They weren't going to
start doing that. It had to be a whole number
and they settled on 11, I think it's that simple.
Yeah, I mean, it seems to be that simple. And, you know, we
have seen different reports of what DeShaun Watson was willing
to accept. And obviously, the NFL had been pushing for a long
time for this whole season.
Scent. But it seemed like once things, I don't know, it
started to take the turn where the settlement was possible,
the full season seemed less, and less likely write the whole
thing about, you know, indefinite suspension with
possible reinstatement. After one entire
season, that just didn't necessarily seem like that was
going to happen. Once these settlement talks, starting
taught started coming up in Earnest, so now that we
actually see what the punishment, Is
I mean now it's basically like will do. We think it's fair or
do we not think it's fair? And I don't really know what
the answer to that question is because I know that a lot of
people don't think it's fair. And I understand why a lot of
people don't think it's fair. When
you see 24 lawsuits that alleged sexual assault and
misconduct, I completely understand that. And then
you've got the other side of this, where you have basically
an unprecedented suspension
for a violation of the personal conduct policy.
An unprecedented fine for a violation of the personal
conduct policy. So is it enough? I don't know, Mike,
I really don't know,
but I understand why the punishment has landed where
it's landed, if that makes sense. And one thing that I'm
surprised they didn't do haven't done and should be
doing the five million dollar. Fine counts as half of
the salary he made
last year. It is a de facto
half-season, unpaid suspension.
And I know there are people out there And I
assume they're smarter than this, who say, oh,
that that doesn't count as paid leave last year. He didn't want
to play for the Texans. They didn't want him playing for
them. They were going to trade. That's right. They would have
traded him to the Dolphins. If you didn't have these issues,
he would have played last year without these issues. He did
serve a paid suspension, so you've taken half of the money
that he made last year. So 11
becomes 19 and a half as a practical matter almost 24
games. When you look at what he's Missing this year and what
he lost from what he made
last year. I don't know why they haven't in this world of
everything gets spun. This is a win-win by the league in
the union. A should be joining hands and saying
this simulates. An unpaid suspension
for half of 2021 because it does have all the times that
I jumped to call out BS. This is when are I'd say they're right,
it's not BS it's not just spin, it's real
but for whatever reason there are people who don't want to.
Here that even though it's the truth
and people will object to 11 games. And
here's the real question was, what was the NFL afraid of?
Because
I would think that some people would say, just go ahead and
drop the hammer on him
and if you lose in court,
so be it. So be it, at least you dropped the hammer on him
and they've won in court,
with Tom, Brady with Ezekiel Elliott and the
current CBA was negotiated after those cases. If I'm a judge,
I'm saying, why the hell are we even here?
Here's the policy
judge Robinson. Major findings of fact, subject to appeal
based upon, not the facts, but the outcome, which was done
League exercises, its prerogative to increase
the punishment. There's no
requirement of deference,
abuse of discretion, arbitrary and capricious, not of those
lawyer words and there they can do whatever they want. Why are
we here? Why are we here? Why would the NFL just do that?
Just say you're out for a year and if you want to fight it
bring it on. I wonder whether there are people in the league
office who wanted to go that route.
Well I mean it's like why didn't they do it? I mean
I would propose the same question back to you. But since you kind
of just ask me, I mean I think part of it is let's just get
this over with
right? I mean at a certain point we've been going through
this for the better part of the last 18 months.
And so if you have to go through an entire court case
and you know, litigation and whatever, that would entail
I think part of it is like what
let's settle on this punishment I meant what's try to get
something done with, you know, our partnership with the nflpa
and to be sort of crass about it, but it kind of is,
let's move on. Let's start the process of moving on and figure
out what it needs to be.
For Deshaun Watson to
continue his career with the Cleveland Browns. Because
look no matter what happened here, he was always going to be
the quarterback for the Cleveland Browns at least in
2020. III and Beyond, right? And that's why the
Cleveland Browns made this move. Not really
for 2022, but for 2023 and Beyond, when you've still got
a quarterback in his mid-20s, that when he is on the field is
one of the elite quarterbacks in the game, that's why they
made the
trade. So I guess from that standpoint it's like let's
figure out what this outcome is. Let's have something that
is agreeable for both parties and let's just start
the process of moving on right now.
Former commissioner Paul tagliabue whose catchphrase,
pull string, not who will rid me of this meddlesome priest,
but all's well that ends that was what he said and you just
want it to be over with you. Just want to move on.
I'm going to Pepper in some questions that we're getting
via Twitter on these topics. Tom Marshall Arizona, UK, was
the suspension, a result of the NFL's fear of going to federal
court? I think it's some level the league had to be concerned
about what would happen
when the union started pointing out.
The disparity in treatment between player
and owner and club, or League management. Because
the relevant, provision in the personal conduct policy says
that owners and club or League management will be held to
a higher standard. So not only do you have
ownership issues more on that in a second
but the Texans what happens with the director of security
who just gave DeShaun Watson an NDA when this hit his radar
screen and they settled with 30 people, do you just forget
about that? What happend did you investigate? Did you
Impose discipline
and Miles. I truly believe that the NFL should have been more
concerned of all the owner misconduct out there. And
Robert Kraft is the easiest
comparison because of the similarity of context, but very
different because no allegation of misconduct against anyone,
the voyeurism scandal in Dallas to me that would be the biggest
concern completely uninvestigated by the league
unreported by the Cowboys to the league in 2015, a violation
of the policy on its own
Rich, Dalrymple, the right-hand man of Jerry Joe,
It's allegedly videotaping cheerleaders while they change
their clothes and 2.4 million was paid out for three of them.
There's smoke. There's fire there. There's a fire there
that they're just letting burn out on its own it's already
burned out. We're not going to go back and
and look through the charred wreckage of whatever that was
that to me is the most fertile ground for an argument that
the NFL doesn't even bother to hold anyone to a higher standard. It
doesn't even look in the direction.
Son of a violation when it should when it comes to one of
the owners of The League. Well, not only, I mean, you better
great point about, you know, what the Cowboys are going
through. But we can still look back at what the league did or
we can say, didn't do when it comes to Daniel Snyder
and everything that went on in the Washington, football,
commanders organization, whatever it is that we want to
call them, right? I mean, that's still, the something
that is being investigated by Congress.
So those things, I think also could have been presented. Said
in court and where you're talking about, hey,
what is the significant penalty that an organization has had to
has had to pay, right? Get bit versus what it is. That DeShaun
Watson has to do, especially when the organizations and
the people who are in those
places of Power are supposed to be held to that higher standard
under the conduct policy.
Here's an important question from at Tyler. The Caruso also
Cujo on Twitter. How much did the new contract tolling play
a role in the
negotiations is 11 worse than a full season for the Browns.
Now,
I had been kicking around this question of whether or not,
there's a minimum, number of games. He has to play this
year, to have the contract, not told, and there's some
misconceptions out there. I've already seen some tweets that
are inaccurate that the six games
avoided any possibility
of tolling based upon partial season that has to do with
a crude years for the purposes of free agency. Josh Gordon wants
got stung by that by missing.
Our late game in the regular season, didn't pick up a year
of credit toward free agency. The contract, only tolls, if he
doesn't play at all and regardless, he's available for
six games,
the contract won't talk. Here's why it helps the Browns.
If it would have told
he would have been signed not through 2026,
but through 2027
his salary next year,
would have been 1 million and change the minimum for a player
with his level of experience, not 46 million dollars. And
I Don't be surprised, I don't know this
but I wouldn't be surprised if there were forces in the league
that didn't want a one-year suspension
simply because of that fact that
that it helps the Browns
right and hey let's wreck their season. Let's force them to go
with someone else 4 for 11 games
and then Watson's back Rusty as hell. Hasn't played in a year
and a half
Almost two calendar years since his last game,
that's fine with us because it avoids, having the Browns, take
their five-year contract as of this year
and say, hey this works for us, we have a five-year brand new
contract
as of next year.
Absolutely, it does. And so yeah, I think that anybody
that's looking at the Browns this year, if you are somebody
that's in club, Personnel, may be all the way up to ownership,
especially
if you're in that AFC North Division.
Vision, which I believe we know is going to be pretty darn
competitive there with the Bangles in the Ravens at
the top. The Browns, coming in to try and Chase, and people can
underestimate the Steelers at their own Peril.
I feel like it does make a lot of sense from a competitive
standpoint to say, or 11 games that isn't bad for us. You
know,
where to Sean Watson, we saw how Rusty he look last week
against Jacksonville and that preseason game. And he was only
taking a few snaps. Yes. But I mean, he airmailed, That first
throw that he had about as poorly as you can.
So this is somebody that is going to be coming back to
the field after not playing a real game since January 2021, when
the Texans finished that season, I believe four and 12,
right? This is going to be somebody that maybe the
Browns are going to be in a competitive spot. Who knows
what you go beaver sets going to be able to do if he is
the quarterback for the first 11 games but you know at that
point you still have maybe in a playoff Chase.
You've got a quarterback
That's going to be as Rusty as DeShaun, Watson definitely will
be. Yeah. From a competitive standpoint, I see why that
benefits me.