Remember he still has a suspension coming up and he hasn't played in over a year. Plus the off the field baggage he brings is a stain on the franchise. I commend the Steelers for deciding earlier they wanted no part of this.

ESPN radio this morning had one of their radio broadcast/lawyer personalities on. She made an interesting point about how Watson's deal basically means he's paid next to nothing this upcoming season and it is a way for the Browns to cheat the spirit of any NFL punishment coming Watson's way since he won't actually have to pay any significant fines. She mentioned he's being paid only $1,000,000 this upcoming season; the Browns anticipate he'll miss games.

(03-21-2022, 09:49 AM)TecmoBengals Wrote: ESPN radio this morning had one of their radio broadcast/lawyer personalities on. She made an interesting point about how Watson's deal basically means he's paid next to nothing this upcoming season and it is a way for the Browns to cheat the spirit of any NFL punishment coming Watson's way since he won't actually have to pay any significant fines. She mentioned he's being paid only $1,000,000 this upcoming season; the Browns anticipate he'll miss games.

Yes this has already been mentioned in several of the other "Browns suck" post that popped up after the trade was announced.  My guess is this came from Watson's camp and not the Browns.  This is what Watson wanted and the Browns were the team willing to accommodate.  This is 100% about money and nothing else.  Watson liked sitting back getting paid to do nothing.  Though he is a competitor people say.  But let's point the spotlight on a couple details.

- The deal was structured specifically to save Watson fine money, that they know is coming.
- Watson has shown ZERO remorse over the situation other than bemoaning the damage to his image.  It's as if he sees it all as lies and that he's done nothing wrong.
- This has been a massive public stain on the NFL.
- Goodell will not be happy with 1)  The attempt to circumvent the system; 2)  The complete lack of remorse/contrition

My prediction are as follows:
*The NFL will conduct a lengthy investigation, so much so that it will push any punishment into 2023 (thus going around Watson's attempt to not pay heavy fines).  
*Some time during the 2022 season the NFL will say it's investigation has raised enough questions that it will place Watson on the Exempt List (No Play and No Pay), for the rest of 2022.

One does not embarrass the NFL and Goodell, and try to go around the punishment system without consequences.  Thus I believe Watson won't play again until mid-2023 and suspended at least 8-9 games.  Not for just his transgression, but for extra embarrassment to the NFL and trying to go around the punishment system.

Remember Goodell can still do what he wants.  He still has all the power.  He has farmed some of it out and made committees, but in essence the NFLPA hasn't negotiated that power away from him yet.  I think this is going to be very severe, with the original "crime" no where meeting the level of punishment that will be handed out.

(03-21-2022, 10:46 AM)Stewy Wrote: Yes this has already been mentioned in several of the other "Browns suck" post that popped up after the trade was announced.  My guess is this came from Watson's camp and not the Browns.  This is what Watson wanted and the Browns were the team willing to accommodate.  This is 100% about money and nothing else.  Watson liked sitting back getting paid to do nothing.  Though he is a competitor people say.  But let's point the spotlight on a couple details.

- The deal was structured specifically to save Watson fine money, that they know is coming.
- Watson has shown ZERO remorse over the situation other than bemoaning the damage to his image.  It's as if he sees it all as lies and that he's done nothing wrong.
- This has been a massive public stain on the NFL.
- Goodell will not be happy with 1)  The attempt to circumvent the system; 2)  The complete lack of remorse/contrition

My prediction are as follows:
*The NFL will conduct a lengthy investigation, so much so that it will push any punishment into 2023 (thus going around Watson's attempt to not pay heavy fines).  
*Some time during the 2022 season the NFL will say it's investigation has raised enough questions that it will place Watson on the Exempt List (No Play and No Pay), for the rest of 2022.

One does not embarrass the NFL and Goodell, and try to go around the punishment system without consequences.  Thus I believe Watson won't play again until mid-2023 and suspended at least 8-9 games.  Not for just his transgression, but for extra embarrassment to the NFL and trying to go around the punishment system.

Remember Goodell can still do what he wants.  He still has all the power.  He has farmed some of it out and made committees, but in essence the NFLPA hasn't negotiated that power away from him yet.  I think this is going to be very severe, with the original "crime" no where meeting the level of punishment that will be handed out.

Ah, I didn't see this topic in this thread or other posts. That's my bad for being repetitive. The forum has a lot of repeat topics lately spread throughout different sub forums so it has been easy for me to overlook talking points. I've been busy trying to keep up with the five Collins threads! I was speculating how Goodell might respond to this and I think you're correct, "one does not embarrass the NFL and Goodell." I wonder if they'll try and also fine Watson beyond his loss of salary? 

(03-21-2022, 10:49 AM)TecmoBengals Wrote: Ah, I didn't see this topic in this thread or other posts. That's my bad for being repetitive. The forum has a lot of repeat topics lately spread throughout different sub forums so it has been easy for me to overlook talking points. I've been busy trying to keep up with the five Collins threads! I was speculating how Goodell might respond to this and I think you're correct, "one does not embarrass the NFL and Goodell." I wonder if they'll try and also fine Watson beyond his loss of salary? 

I am sorry.  I really wasn't trying to belittle you, even if it came across sounding that way some.

SI.com has an extraordinary timeline of the situation going back to his initial request for trade in Jan 2021.  At least half of the therapists have given sworn statements to the NFL, with some of them not vey happy with how the interviews were conducted.  Very much interrogations according to a few women who have spoken out.  Additionally the NFL opened up it's investigation the week of the first dozen court filings in March 2021.  Also early on (March 2021) Goodell came out and said they did not have enough evidence to place him on he exempt list, and that was the last statement he made on the matter.  So they have been collecting evidence for a year since.  They will soon have access to the criminal files, and will eventually have access to Deshaun's depositions.  So things are very different now than there were a year ago, from a NFL investigation point of view.  Also it should be pointed out that Goodell has VERY broad.  He can place players on it for as little as "embarrassing the NFL".  It has widely been speculated here in Houston, that if he had tried to play, the NFL would have immediately put him on the exempt list.

So while the criminal investigation has wrapped up, the NFl's investigation is just hitting its stride.  Something tells me that this could be one of the harshest punishments given out in a long time.  Not just because of the acts, but because of the complete lack of remorse and the attempt to game the punishment system.

(03-20-2022, 10:25 PM)Joelist Wrote: Remember he still has a suspension coming up and he hasn't played in over a year. Plus the off the field baggage he brings is a stain on the franchise. I commend the Steelers for deciding earlier they wanted no part of this.

We'll see how it plays out.  The Browns have the best roster they've ever had (post-expansion, as the franchise that made the AFC championship games in the 80s went to Baltimore) and they can't give Baker Mayfield away...can't blame them for going all in on this.

The Browns have been awful for decades, so I can see why they did this while the Steelers didn't.  The Browns can go total bust on this trade and they'll still be the same crap team that they always were, where the Steelers have more to lose.  Plus, Browns fans win because if you're sick of rooting for a crap franchise you can now walk away and pick a new team and pretend it was because of Watson's sexual offenses.