NFL, Deshaun Watson reach settlement on 11-game suspension, $5 million fine

The settlement, following an agreement between the NFL and NFL Players Association, will see Watson sit out for longer than the six-game suspension he had earlier been issued by a neutral arbitrator. By settling, Watson avoids a pending decision from an appeals officer that could have resulted in a season-long ban. The NFL, meanwhile, does not have to worry about a possible court battle that loomed with Watson and the players union.

“I apologise once again for any pain this situation has caused. I take accountability for the decisions I made,” Watson said in a statement released through the team. “My focus going forward is working to become the best version of myself on and off the field and supporting my teammates however possible while I’m away from the team.”

Shortly after his statement apologising, though, Watson maintained his innocence and indicated he just had to move on. “I’ve always stood on my innocence and always said that I’ve never assaulted anyone or disrespected anyone — and I’ve continued to stand on that. But at the same time I have to continue to push forward with my life and career.”

Watson added that he apologised because there were a lot of people who were “triggered.”

Watson, one of the game’s most talented young players, was first accused of wrongdoing in civil lawsuits brought more than a year ago by massage therapists who said that Watson had engaged in various forms of inappropriate behaviour while they worked with him. In the time since, dozens of allegations of misconduct have surfaced against him.

Watson initially received a six-game ban from a neutral arbitrator, former U.S. District Court Judge Sue Robinson, who found that Watson violated the personal conduct policy. But the suspension she handed down was six games — leading to outcries that the penalty was too lenient. That led the league to exercise its right to an appeal, where the scales were tilted in its favour because the process sends the final decision to commissioner Roger Goodell or someone he picks.

Goodell appointed Peter Harvey, a former attorney general of New Jersey and federal prosecutor who had previously served as the commissioner’s designee in other arbitrations. But before Harvey ruled, the sides were able to strike an agreement. One indication of a potential settlement emerged last week when Watson issued a public apology for the first time. Robinson, in her decision, had cited Watson’s lack of remorse as an aggravating factor in her ruling.

“Deshaun has committed to doing the hard work on himself that is necessary for his return to the NFL,” Goodell said in a statement.

The agreement yields a punishment shorter than the year-long one the league initially sought, but even the 11-game suspension may in some ways move the goalposts on the standards for discipline in the NFL. The fine for Watson is also unprecedented — it is the largest in league history for a player in one of these cases.

The league had initially recommended to Robinson, the neutral arbitrator selected by the NFL and NFLPA, that Watson should have to sit for the entire 2022 season, at least. The league’s appeal had addressed whether his discipline should be lengthened and if he should be fined, while it also suggested a modification that Watson receive professional evaluation and treatment.

In Robinson’s ruling, she described Watson’s behaviour as “egregious” and “predatory,” but she based her discipline on past suspensions. She wrote that the six-game ruling was the “most significant punishment ever imposed on an NFL player for allegations of nonviolent sexual conduct.”

Even before her decision came out, the NFLPA had sought to pre-empt a potential appeal. In a statement the night before she ruled, the union wrote that it would not exercise its right to appeal — and called on the NFL to do the same.

The league didn’t take the bait. Goodell explained this month that the NFL sought to overturn her decision because Robinson agreed with the league on the substance of the case but that his conduct warranted a longer absence.

“We’ve seen the evidence,” Goodell said. “She was very clear about the evidence, she reinforced the evidence that there were multiple violations here, and they were egregious, and it was predatory behaviour.”

The controversy surrounding Watson emerged early last year on multiple fronts. At around the same time that Watson sought a trade from the Houston Texans, the first of two dozen women filed a civil lawsuit against him.

As the accusations of sexual misconduct snowballed, it presented an uncomfortable situation for Watson, the Texans and the NFL. Watson, who emerged as a superstar at Clemson where he led the team to a national championship, was one of the game’s most marketable young players until the sexual misconduct allegations surfaced.

Last season, while the NFL launched its own investigation, he had yet to be formally disciplined. Meanwhile, the accusations scuttled a trade market that would otherwise be robust for a premier player at the game’s most important position. Watson was ultimately paid to sit out every game of the season, appearing on the team’s injury report each week as out and that it was “not injury related.”

The landscape changed after the season when a Texas grand jury opted to not indict Watson — an event that seemed to make acquiring Watson palatable for the various teams who quickly raced to bid on him. The Browns ultimately won out, sending an enormous package that included three first-round picks to Houston. Shortly thereafter, a second grand jury also decided not to bring charges against him.

Cleveland’s trade for Watson was heavily scrutinised not just because of the outstanding civil cases but also because of the contract the team handed him. Watson received a groundbreaking, five-year deal worth a fully guaranteed $230 million, and it was structured with a small base salary in the first season — which had the effect of minimising any financial penalty for him if he were suspended for part of 2022.

In recent weeks, Watson has settled most of the civil cases against him, according to Tony Buzbee, the attorney representing the women. But Watson still faced the long-anticipated discipline from the NFL, which made a case that focused on a handful of allegations that the league believed contained the strongest evidence.

The settlement between the sides also includes various provisions, such as undergoing professional evaluation and treatment. In addition to Watson’s fine, the NFL and the Browns will each also donate $1 million to create a fund that educates young people on issues such as the prevention of sexual misconduct and assault.

When he returns to the field from his 11-game suspension, it will also likely be closely watched for another reason: The Browns play their 12th game of the season against the Texans — Watson’s former team.

-The Wall Street Journal