Browns fans. I've seen on Twitter who saying, no,
I served a suspension. Last year. That wasn't a suspension. He
was on the active roster. Now they made him inactive for
every game, but that's not suspension. He was paid his ten
million
dollars.
I believe he will be suspended Ben Roethlisberger and Ezekiel
Elliott similar situations. They both got originally six
games each. I think he will be suspended, Mike and I think
They are probably bracing for that.
How quickly do you think the NFL will decide on what his
suspension will be?
Well, the NFL does not like to do anything until it has to and
I see three potential outcomes here
and there could be more. But these are the three approaches.
The NFL, could take one,
the NFL could take action now
and suspend him.
Now, notwithstanding the 22 pending cases. He gets his
punishment now.
Based upon what the NFL nose
and the 22 cases go forward. And whatever happens with
the 20s who cases, the NFL has concluded, the matter
suspension
served and everything else is between DeShaun Watson and
the Civil Justice System. That's one way to handle the other way
to handle it is to not do anything at all until
the twenty two cases are over
and you could argue that. The fair thing to do is wait and
see what happens because at the end of the day Shereen
if the 22 cases ultimately our one each and every one of them
if they're ultimately won by DeShaun Watson,
And he wasn't charged with any crime.
What has he done wrong?
What should it be suspended for?
What? What rules did he violate of common Society if he
ultimately has no
criminal or civil responsibility. That's at The
Other Extreme. They can wait until the end and if he settles
then you suspend him, if he doesn't, if he wins then, who
knows what you do, but you wait until the very end to make
a decision.
The other thing they can do
is they can give him a preliminary suspension six
games now
and reserve the right to do more later based upon what?
Ben's with the 22 cases.
I have a weird feeling that, that could be the winner. That
that could be the way to go. However, however, here's what
I think the NFL wants to avoid. And this is why they do paid
leave.
This is the, this is the,
this is the. So I guess there's four categories because this is
the other one that I think could happen. And if I talk
long enough, I'll come up with a fifth or sixth and
the seventh.
I think there's a chance. The NFL could say
in Late July because the NFL doesn't like to tip his hand
until it has to isn't like to act until it has to The NFL
could say that you're going on paid, leave until these cases
are resolved. And then after they're resolved, we reserve
the right to punish you based
upon the outcome of the cases. So
you're not playing and you're going to continue to get paid
and in the NFL's eyes,
guys getting paid to not play
is not punishment.
We went through that back in 2014, Ray Rice,
Greg Hardy, Adrian Peterson, those three controversies all
coming about the same time cause the NFL to hatch this
idea that
What here we're not comfortable with the idea
of a player who is facing
serious charges, who hasn't been proven guilty. This isn't
about the presumption of innocence. This is just, it's
not a good look for us to have that guy. Playing football,
have our broadcast Partners, have to say, DeShaun Watson,
who has 22 pending civil lawsuits against them drops,
back to pass. They don't want that. They don't think it's
punishment to not let a guy play football because he still
gets paid.
And the point I made at the time and I still I believe to
this day for most people. Yeah, it's not punishment. If they
get a paid vacation because they hate their job, their job
sucks. But for football players, they want to play
football.
So it is punishment to keep them from playing, but that's
that's one thing to keep an eye on. If he doesn't settle these
cases, the NFL could say, you're not playing until these
cases are over, and I'm not sure that Watson's Camp really
appreciates that risk.
Well, and at that point, Mike doesn't he settle the cases? If
he goes on the Commissioners exempt list, wouldn't he just
say? Okay, let's settle this and get this out of the way.
Here's the problem. Tony Busby, if that happens puts not just
his thumb on the scale. He puts both thumbs. The other eight
fingers, the palms of his hands, his elbows, and
shoulders in the rest of his body on the scale because
that's what happens when you get into civil litigation.
People say, well, that's not how it should be when you
settle a case. It should be an approximation of What that case
actually would
be worth what a jury could be. No, no, no, no.
Every Factor drives the value of a settlement. And if
you've got a quarterback, who is prevented from playing,
until these cases are resolved. All of a sudden,
those cases are much more expensive to settle. It's one
of the reasons why the case is didn't get settled back at
the trade deadline.
Tony, Busby caught wind of, why
DeShaun Watson was trying to settle these cases that if he
settles him, all
he gets a trade.
And he goes and plays football, and I think that's what caused
just enough of the plaintiff to Satan. Now. We're not ready to
do this, or if we do it. We want a lot more than what
you're willing to offer.
Even if we said, we would have taken that amount before we
realize what's happening here. That's why. If the NFL does it,
it puts him in a very, very difficult situation. I'm not
passing judgment. I'm just saying, that's the way
it is, right wrong? Doesn't matter here. When you have that
lawsuit
and the other side is motivated to make that lawsuit go away
and you know, it's like anything else, motivated buyer
reluctance. Our and you got somebody who really wants to
make this happen.
Good business means you squeeze him for everything. It's worth
that's capitalism. That's negotiation.
And that is very very prevalent in the legal profession.
I'll be very interested when that schedule comes out Mike
because I'm sure the NFL has an idea of what it's going to do.
Right? So when that schedule comes out, are they going to
punish the Browns? Are they going to have them playing say
The Bangles? And
I don't even know who y'all some, their schedule outside
the division, but the first six games really loaded with high
quality teams as an additional punishment for the team.
That'll be interesting to watch
Peter King. And I argued about that last week when it looked
like, John Watson was going to go to the NFC South and there's
an article we have on PFT from 2010.
The
why am I blanking on the name? Of the guy who makes
the schedule. Howard Katz was almost Chris, Mad, Dog Russo.
And the Steelers first primetime game was the week
after Ben Roethlisberger, 6, game suspension ended and Russo
was very skeptical
about that. They did that on purpose, that
Howard Katz knew that the suspension was coming in factor
that in and Cat said, that's not right. Relevant to me.
Peter seems to think it will be relevant,
but we'll see. But the Browns know going in. It's not about
20 22. There's a 10-year play. I think they take whatever
comes their way this year. But
the worst case scenario is he doesn't play it all this year
and then he gets his suspension next year if he's stubborn
about settling these cases, bottom line is. I think it'd be
very smart to settle the case.