For No Good Reason The Nfl Is Cutting Deshaun Watson A Deal

The NFL found all of this to be true, and even after having those findings upheld by an independent arbitrator, the NFL and commissioner Roger Goodell still struck a deal with Watson. On Thursday, the league and the NFL players union agreed to a settlement regarding the discipline that will be imposed on Watson: an 11-game suspension, a $5 million fine and mandatory counseling. That’s an increase from the six-game suspension handed down earlier this month by Sue L. Robinson, the jointly appointed arbitrator who originally heard the case, but substantially less than the minimum one-year suspension the NFL initially claimed it was pushing for. The settlement comes after the league appealed Robinson’s original decision, which it has the authority to do under the collective bargaining agreement. Goodell, who could hear the appeal and issue a ruling himself, appointed former New Jersey attorney general and frequent league associate Peter Harvey to do so — but the settlement resulted in a final ruling by Harvey. But try not to get caught up in the mechanics of it all. The NFL had the power to hear the appeal and make the decision, whatever decision it wanted. And while the league initially said (to Robinson and in leaks to reporters) that it wanted a one-year hold, it ended up being fine with 11 games. It’s hard, therefore, to believe that the NFL or Goodell ever cared about reaching that one-year mark. If they cared, they would have. Nothing was stopping them. True, the NFLPA could have taken the league to court for a no-negotiation decision, but if that stopped the NFL from going any further, pick a funny day to wake up and suddenly care about billable hours or some other legal battle with the union that usually enjoys winning. (The disciplinary authority granted by Goodell’s CBA was notably strengthened by a federal appeals court in the Deflategate case.) Even to say that the league has resolved its dispute with the union over Watson’s punishment seems disingenuous, as it is difficult to have disagreement when one side has all the power. Because this is a concession made to a person who Goodell believes has behaved aggressively, when that person had no legal leverage with which to extract it, the sentence imposed is insufficient. That said, it’s hard to calculate what would be appropriate – how many women and how much unwanted intercourse equals how many football games? There is no answer that does not have some arbitrary quality. But it would have had something significant if the NFL had actually imposed the minimum one-year suspension it originally claimed it wanted. The league operates in seasons, the units on which teams build rosters and on which fans pin their hopes. Watson’s ability to return in December (in a game against the Houston Texans, no less) softens the impact of his suspension. Now that he’ll be a part of the 2022 Browns, his discipline tangles with the twisted incentive structures of a team chasing a championship. It’s hard to say exactly what the right punishment is for so many transgressions, but a one-year suspension would be tangible in a way that 11 games isn’t—for both Watson and the Browns, who have been desperately trying to build a roster championship around him and then spent the entire summer trying to shield him and themselves from consequences, tough questions, or anything resembling accountability. The NFL had a chance to show some conviction in pushing for the suspension it initially said it wanted. Instead, as a mitigating factor in the statement announcing the settlement, Goodell said, “Deshaun is committed to doing the hard work on himself that is necessary to return to the NFL.” Watson will have to undergo some form of treatment by a “third-party behavioral expert” to finalize his reinstatement, which may be the commitment Goodell is referring to. But if that statement is supposed to suggest that genuine remorse and self-reflection from Watson contributed to the league’s willingness to settle the case, it’s an insult to the intelligence of anyone reading it. Minutes after the NFL released that statement — and after the team released a statement from Watson in which he said he would accept “responsibility for the decisions I made” — Watson, in his first news conference in months, said that he continues to “stand for my innocence” and that he “never attacked or disrespected anyone.” Watson had issued an apology of sorts in an interview with a reporter last week — notable timing, as his lack of remorse was aggravating. factor in Robinson’s decision and was considered a factor in the league’s decision to appeal — in which he apologized “To all the women I’ve affected in this situation.” (He was not specifically asked to address Robinson’s findings that he had committed sexual assault as defined by the NFL and presented by the league’s investigators. Watson clarified Thursday that he made that apology “in all women,” but not specifically to the women who said It stretches credulity to believe that one can watch him speak and to believe that he was watching a person who had taken a shred of real responsibility. Watson’s lack of accountability has been allowed by the Browns since trading for him, and team owners have been defiant in the face of criticism. In his own press conference Thursday following news of the settlement, team owner Jimmy Haslam said he would “absolutely” do it all over again. Even if he knew he was going to sit out 11 games and that a neutral arbitrator would agree with the NFL investigators’ findings, Haslam would still push his team to trade and then sign Watson to an unprecedented fully guaranteed contract 230 million dollars. Haslam showed he wasn’t worried about the character of the player he paid so much to acquire. The arrogance of this statement has to be striking, and is perhaps best explained by something Dee Haslam, Jimmy’s wife, said a short time later when she turned to the victim accuser, clumsily (and wrongly) equating massage therapy with sex. work. “There’s just a huge opportunity to talk about the important issues in our country in this area, like sex trafficking, the use of massage parlors,” Dee Haslam said. However, there’s less opportunity to talk about Watson’s own behavior, which the Haslams said they wouldn’t discuss, even though Jimmy Haslam said at one point that Watson had a chance to “rehabilitate.” So, in what the NFL and Watson’s NFLPA representatives believe is a solution to this situation, they offer a mess of contradictions and shirk responsibility. Watson will “do the hard work,” as Goodell said, even though there’s no work to be done. he apologized to everyone, but for nothing. He will see a counselor about his behavior, behavior he says is perfectly fine. Lest we forget any entries on the long list of people embarrassed in front of microphones in Cleveland on Thursday, Browns general manager Andrew Berry said the process the team went through to sign Watson, which did not include interviewing none of the women he said assaulted them before giving him the most guaranteed money in the history of the league, he was “thorough.” Coach Kevin Stefanski tried as humanly as possible to talk only football. Ultimately, no one in the NFL, NFLPA or Cleveland could offer a good explanation for the settlement, because there isn’t one. It doesn’t make sense because it can’t make sense, and every fraudulent excuse offered is another insult to the women Watson hurt. The Browns are used to being ridiculous. But never to this extent.

title: “For No Good Reason The Nfl Is Cutting Deshaun Watson A Deal Klmat” ShowToc: true date: “2022-10-30” author: “Byron King”

The NFL found all of this to be true, and even after having those findings upheld by an independent arbitrator, the NFL and commissioner Roger Goodell still struck a deal with Watson. On Thursday, the league and the NFL players union agreed to a settlement regarding the discipline that will be imposed on Watson: an 11-game suspension, a $5 million fine and mandatory counseling. That’s an increase from the six-game suspension handed down earlier this month by Sue L. Robinson, the jointly appointed arbitrator who originally heard the case, but substantially less than the minimum one-year suspension the NFL initially claimed it was pushing for. The settlement comes after the league appealed Robinson’s original decision, which it has the authority to do under the collective bargaining agreement. Goodell, who could hear the appeal and issue a ruling himself, appointed former New Jersey attorney general and frequent league associate Peter Harvey to do so — but the settlement resulted in a final ruling by Harvey. But try not to get caught up in the mechanics of it all. The NFL had the power to hear the appeal and make the decision, whatever decision it wanted. And while the league initially said (to Robinson and in leaks to reporters) that it wanted a one-year hold, it ended up being fine with 11 games. It’s hard, therefore, to believe that the NFL or Goodell ever cared about reaching that one-year mark. If they cared, they would have. Nothing was stopping them. True, the NFLPA could have taken the league to court for a no-negotiation decision, but if that stopped the NFL from going any further, pick a funny day to wake up and suddenly care about billable hours or some other legal battle with the union that usually enjoys winning. (The disciplinary authority granted by Goodell’s CBA was notably strengthened by a federal appeals court in the Deflategate case.) Even to say that the league has resolved its dispute with the union over Watson’s punishment seems disingenuous, as it is difficult to have disagreement when one side has all the power. Because this is a concession made to a person who Goodell believes has behaved aggressively, when that person had no legal leverage with which to extract it, the sentence imposed is insufficient. That said, it’s hard to calculate what would be appropriate – how many women and how much unwanted intercourse equals how many football games? There is no answer that does not have some arbitrary quality. But it would have had something significant if the NFL had actually imposed the minimum one-year suspension it originally claimed it wanted. The league operates in seasons, the units on which teams build rosters and on which fans pin their hopes. Watson’s ability to return in December (in a game against the Houston Texans, no less) softens the impact of his suspension. Now that he’ll be a part of the 2022 Browns, his discipline tangles with the twisted incentive structures of a team chasing a championship. It’s hard to say exactly what the right punishment is for so many transgressions, but a one-year suspension would be tangible in a way that 11 games isn’t—for both Watson and the Browns, who have been desperately trying to build a roster championship around him and then spent the entire summer trying to shield him and themselves from consequences, tough questions, or anything resembling accountability. The NFL had a chance to show some conviction in pushing for the suspension it initially said it wanted. Instead, as a mitigating factor in the statement announcing the settlement, Goodell said, “Deshaun is committed to doing the hard work on himself that is necessary to return to the NFL.” Watson will have to undergo some form of treatment by a “third-party behavioral expert” to finalize his reinstatement, which may be the commitment Goodell is referring to. But if that statement is supposed to suggest that genuine remorse and self-reflection from Watson contributed to the league’s willingness to settle the case, it’s an insult to the intelligence of anyone reading it. Minutes after the NFL released that statement — and after the team released a statement from Watson in which he said he would accept “responsibility for the decisions I made” — Watson, in his first news conference in months, said that he continues to “stand for my innocence” and that he “never attacked or disrespected anyone.” Watson had issued an apology of sorts in an interview with a reporter last week — notable timing, as his lack of remorse was aggravating. factor in Robinson’s decision and was considered a factor in the league’s decision to appeal — in which he apologized “To all the women I’ve affected in this situation.” (He was not specifically asked to address Robinson’s findings that he had committed sexual assault as defined by the NFL and presented by the league’s investigators. Watson clarified Thursday that he made that apology “in all women,” but not specifically to the women who said It stretches credulity to believe that one can watch him speak and to believe that he was watching a person who had taken a shred of real responsibility. Watson’s lack of accountability has been allowed by the Browns since trading for him, and team owners have been defiant in the face of criticism. In his own press conference Thursday following news of the settlement, team owner Jimmy Haslam said he would “absolutely” do it all over again. Even if he knew he was going to sit out 11 games and that a neutral arbitrator would agree with the NFL investigators’ findings, Haslam would still push his team to trade and then sign Watson to an unprecedented fully guaranteed contract 230 million dollars. Haslam showed he wasn’t worried about the character of the player he paid so much to acquire. The arrogance of this statement has to be striking, and is perhaps best explained by something Dee Haslam, Jimmy’s wife, said a short time later when she turned to the victim accuser, clumsily (and wrongly) equating massage therapy with sex. work. “There’s just a huge opportunity to talk about the important issues in our country in this area, like sex trafficking, the use of massage parlors,” Dee Haslam said. However, there’s less opportunity to talk about Watson’s own behavior, which the Haslams said they wouldn’t discuss, even though Jimmy Haslam said at one point that Watson had a chance to “rehabilitate.” So, in what the NFL and Watson’s NFLPA representatives believe is a solution to this situation, they offer a mess of contradictions and shirk responsibility. Watson will “do the hard work,” as Goodell said, even though there’s no work to be done. he apologized to everyone, but for nothing. He will see a counselor about his behavior, behavior he says is perfectly fine. Lest we forget any entries on the long list of people embarrassed in front of microphones in Cleveland on Thursday, Browns general manager Andrew Berry said the process the team went through to sign Watson, which did not include interviewing none of the women he said assaulted them before giving him the most guaranteed money in the history of the league, he was “thorough.” Coach Kevin Stefanski tried as humanly as possible to talk only football. Ultimately, no one in the NFL, NFLPA or Cleveland could offer a good explanation for the settlement, because there isn’t one. It doesn’t make sense because it can’t make sense, and every fraudulent excuse offered is another insult to the women Watson hurt. The Browns are used to being ridiculous. But never to this extent.

title: “For No Good Reason The Nfl Is Cutting Deshaun Watson A Deal Klmat” ShowToc: true date: “2022-11-09” author: “Michael Tinsley”

The NFL found all of this to be true, and even after having those findings upheld by an independent arbitrator, the NFL and commissioner Roger Goodell still struck a deal with Watson. On Thursday, the league and the NFL players union agreed to a settlement regarding the discipline that will be imposed on Watson: an 11-game suspension, a $5 million fine and mandatory counseling. That’s an increase from the six-game suspension handed down earlier this month by Sue L. Robinson, the jointly appointed arbitrator who originally heard the case, but substantially less than the minimum one-year suspension the NFL initially claimed it was pushing for. The settlement comes after the league appealed Robinson’s original decision, which it has the authority to do under the collective bargaining agreement. Goodell, who could hear the appeal and issue a ruling himself, appointed former New Jersey attorney general and frequent league associate Peter Harvey to do so — but the settlement resulted in a final ruling by Harvey. But try not to get caught up in the mechanics of it all. The NFL had the power to hear the appeal and make the decision, whatever decision it wanted. And while the league initially said (to Robinson and in leaks to reporters) that it wanted a one-year hold, it ended up being fine with 11 games. It’s hard, therefore, to believe that the NFL or Goodell ever cared about reaching that one-year mark. If they cared, they would have. Nothing was stopping them. True, the NFLPA could have taken the league to court for a no-negotiation decision, but if that stopped the NFL from going any further, pick a funny day to wake up and suddenly care about billable hours or some other legal battle with the union that usually enjoys winning. (The disciplinary authority granted by Goodell’s CBA was notably strengthened by a federal appeals court in the Deflategate case.) Even to say that the league has resolved its dispute with the union over Watson’s punishment seems disingenuous, as it is difficult to have disagreement when one side has all the power. Because this is a concession made to a person who Goodell believes has behaved aggressively, when that person had no legal leverage with which to extract it, the sentence imposed is insufficient. That said, it’s hard to calculate what would be appropriate – how many women and how much unwanted intercourse equals how many football games? There is no answer that does not have some arbitrary quality. But it would have had something significant if the NFL had actually imposed the minimum one-year suspension it originally claimed it wanted. The league operates in seasons, the units on which teams build rosters and on which fans pin their hopes. Watson’s ability to return in December (in a game against the Houston Texans, no less) softens the impact of his suspension. Now that he’ll be a part of the 2022 Browns, his discipline tangles with the twisted incentive structures of a team chasing a championship. It’s hard to say exactly what the right punishment is for so many transgressions, but a one-year suspension would be tangible in a way that 11 games isn’t—for both Watson and the Browns, who have been desperately trying to build a roster championship around him and then spent the entire summer trying to shield him and themselves from consequences, tough questions, or anything resembling accountability. The NFL had a chance to show some conviction in pushing for the suspension it initially said it wanted. Instead, as a mitigating factor in the statement announcing the settlement, Goodell said, “Deshaun is committed to doing the hard work on himself that is necessary to return to the NFL.” Watson will have to undergo some form of treatment by a “third-party behavioral expert” to finalize his reinstatement, which may be the commitment Goodell is referring to. But if that statement is supposed to suggest that genuine remorse and self-reflection from Watson contributed to the league’s willingness to settle the case, it’s an insult to the intelligence of anyone reading it. Minutes after the NFL released that statement — and after the team released a statement from Watson in which he said he would accept “responsibility for the decisions I made” — Watson, in his first news conference in months, said that he continues to “stand for my innocence” and that he “never attacked or disrespected anyone.” Watson had issued an apology of sorts in an interview with a reporter last week — notable timing, as his lack of remorse was aggravating. factor in Robinson’s decision and was considered a factor in the league’s decision to appeal — in which he apologized “To all the women I’ve affected in this situation.” (He was not specifically asked to address Robinson’s findings that he had committed sexual assault as defined by the NFL and presented by the league’s investigators. Watson clarified Thursday that he made that apology “in all women,” but not specifically to the women who said It stretches credulity to believe that one can watch him speak and to believe that he was watching a person who had taken a shred of real responsibility. Watson’s lack of accountability has been allowed by the Browns since trading for him, and team owners have been defiant in the face of criticism. In his own press conference Thursday following news of the settlement, team owner Jimmy Haslam said he would “absolutely” do it all over again. Even if he knew he was going to sit out 11 games and that a neutral arbitrator would agree with the NFL investigators’ findings, Haslam would still push his team to trade and then sign Watson to an unprecedented fully guaranteed contract 230 million dollars. Haslam showed he wasn’t worried about the character of the player he paid so much to acquire. The arrogance of this statement has to be striking, and is perhaps best explained by something Dee Haslam, Jimmy’s wife, said a short time later when she turned to the victim accuser, clumsily (and wrongly) equating massage therapy with sex. work. “There’s just a huge opportunity to talk about the important issues in our country in this area, like sex trafficking, the use of massage parlors,” Dee Haslam said. However, there’s less opportunity to talk about Watson’s own behavior, which the Haslams said they wouldn’t discuss, even though Jimmy Haslam said at one point that Watson had a chance to “rehabilitate.” So, in what the NFL and Watson’s NFLPA representatives believe is a solution to this situation, they offer a mess of contradictions and shirk responsibility. Watson will “do the hard work,” as Goodell said, even though there’s no work to be done. he apologized to everyone, but for nothing. He will see a counselor about his behavior, behavior he says is perfectly fine. Lest we forget any entries on the long list of people embarrassed in front of microphones in Cleveland on Thursday, Browns general manager Andrew Berry said the process the team went through to sign Watson, which did not include interviewing none of the women he said assaulted them before giving him the most guaranteed money in the history of the league, he was “thorough.” Coach Kevin Stefanski tried as humanly as possible to talk only football. Ultimately, no one in the NFL, NFLPA or Cleveland could offer a good explanation for the settlement, because there isn’t one. It doesn’t make sense because it can’t make sense, and every fraudulent excuse offered is another insult to the women Watson hurt. The Browns are used to being ridiculous. But never to this extent.

title: “For No Good Reason The Nfl Is Cutting Deshaun Watson A Deal Klmat” ShowToc: true date: “2022-11-23” author: “Esther Kersey”

The NFL found all of this to be true, and even after having those findings upheld by an independent arbitrator, the NFL and commissioner Roger Goodell still struck a deal with Watson. On Thursday, the league and the NFL players union agreed to a settlement regarding the discipline that will be imposed on Watson: an 11-game suspension, a $5 million fine and mandatory counseling. That’s an increase from the six-game suspension handed down earlier this month by Sue L. Robinson, the jointly appointed arbitrator who originally heard the case, but substantially less than the minimum one-year suspension the NFL initially claimed it was pushing for. The settlement comes after the league appealed Robinson’s original decision, which it has the authority to do under the collective bargaining agreement. Goodell, who could hear the appeal and issue a ruling himself, appointed former New Jersey attorney general and frequent league associate Peter Harvey to do so — but the settlement resulted in a final ruling by Harvey. But try not to get caught up in the mechanics of it all. The NFL had the power to hear the appeal and make the decision, whatever decision it wanted. And while the league initially said (to Robinson and in leaks to reporters) that it wanted a one-year hold, it ended up being fine with 11 games. It’s hard, therefore, to believe that the NFL or Goodell ever cared about reaching that one-year mark. If they cared, they would have. Nothing was stopping them. True, the NFLPA could have taken the league to court for a no-negotiation decision, but if that stopped the NFL from going any further, pick a funny day to wake up and suddenly care about billable hours or some other legal battle with the union that usually enjoys winning. (The disciplinary authority granted by Goodell’s CBA was notably strengthened by a federal appeals court in the Deflategate case.) Even to say that the league has resolved its dispute with the union over Watson’s punishment seems disingenuous, as it is difficult to have disagreement when one side has all the power. Because this is a concession made to a person who Goodell believes has behaved aggressively, when that person had no legal leverage with which to extract it, the sentence imposed is insufficient. That said, it’s hard to calculate what would be appropriate – how many women and how much unwanted intercourse equals how many football games? There is no answer that does not have some arbitrary quality. But it would have had something significant if the NFL had actually imposed the minimum one-year suspension it originally claimed it wanted. The league operates in seasons, the units on which teams build rosters and on which fans pin their hopes. Watson’s ability to return in December (in a game against the Houston Texans, no less) softens the impact of his suspension. Now that he’ll be a part of the 2022 Browns, his discipline tangles with the twisted incentive structures of a team chasing a championship. It’s hard to say exactly what the right punishment is for so many transgressions, but a one-year suspension would be tangible in a way that 11 games isn’t—for both Watson and the Browns, who have been desperately trying to build a roster championship around him and then spent the entire summer trying to shield him and themselves from consequences, tough questions, or anything resembling accountability. The NFL had a chance to show some conviction in pushing for the suspension it initially said it wanted. Instead, as a mitigating factor in the statement announcing the settlement, Goodell said, “Deshaun is committed to doing the hard work on himself that is necessary to return to the NFL.” Watson will have to undergo some form of treatment by a “third-party behavioral expert” to finalize his reinstatement, which may be the commitment Goodell is referring to. But if that statement is supposed to suggest that genuine remorse and self-reflection from Watson contributed to the league’s willingness to settle the case, it’s an insult to the intelligence of anyone reading it. Minutes after the NFL released that statement — and after the team released a statement from Watson in which he said he would accept “responsibility for the decisions I made” — Watson, in his first news conference in months, said that he continues to “stand for my innocence” and that he “never attacked or disrespected anyone.” Watson had issued an apology of sorts in an interview with a reporter last week — notable timing, as his lack of remorse was aggravating. factor in Robinson’s decision and was considered a factor in the league’s decision to appeal — in which he apologized “To all the women I’ve affected in this situation.” (He was not specifically asked to address Robinson’s findings that he had committed sexual assault as defined by the NFL and presented by the league’s investigators. Watson clarified Thursday that he made that apology “in all women,” but not specifically to the women who said It stretches credulity to believe that one can watch him speak and to believe that he was watching a person who had taken a shred of real responsibility. Watson’s lack of accountability has been allowed by the Browns since trading for him, and team owners have been defiant in the face of criticism. In his own press conference Thursday following news of the settlement, team owner Jimmy Haslam said he would “absolutely” do it all over again. Even if he knew he was going to sit out 11 games and that a neutral arbitrator would agree with the NFL investigators’ findings, Haslam would still push his team to trade and then sign Watson to an unprecedented fully guaranteed contract 230 million dollars. Haslam showed he wasn’t worried about the character of the player he paid so much to acquire. The arrogance of this statement has to be striking, and is perhaps best explained by something Dee Haslam, Jimmy’s wife, said a short time later when she turned to the victim accuser, clumsily (and wrongly) equating massage therapy with sex. work. “There’s just a huge opportunity to talk about the important issues in our country in this area, like sex trafficking, the use of massage parlors,” Dee Haslam said. However, there’s less opportunity to talk about Watson’s own behavior, which the Haslams said they wouldn’t discuss, even though Jimmy Haslam said at one point that Watson had a chance to “rehabilitate.” So, in what the NFL and Watson’s NFLPA representatives believe is a solution to this situation, they offer a mess of contradictions and shirk responsibility. Watson will “do the hard work,” as Goodell said, even though there’s no work to be done. he apologized to everyone, but for nothing. He will see a counselor about his behavior, behavior he says is perfectly fine. Lest we forget any entries on the long list of people embarrassed in front of microphones in Cleveland on Thursday, Browns general manager Andrew Berry said the process the team went through to sign Watson, which did not include interviewing none of the women he said assaulted them before giving him the most guaranteed money in the history of the league, he was “thorough.” Coach Kevin Stefanski tried as humanly as possible to talk only football. Ultimately, no one in the NFL, NFLPA or Cleveland could offer a good explanation for the settlement, because there isn’t one. It doesn’t make sense because it can’t make sense, and every fraudulent excuse offered is another insult to the women Watson hurt. The Browns are used to being ridiculous. But never to this extent.

title: “For No Good Reason The Nfl Is Cutting Deshaun Watson A Deal Klmat” ShowToc: true date: “2022-12-03” author: “Jennifer Thomas”

The NFL found all of this to be true, and even after having those findings upheld by an independent arbitrator, the NFL and commissioner Roger Goodell still struck a deal with Watson. On Thursday, the league and the NFL players union agreed to a settlement regarding the discipline that will be imposed on Watson: an 11-game suspension, a $5 million fine and mandatory counseling. That’s an increase from the six-game suspension handed down earlier this month by Sue L. Robinson, the jointly appointed arbitrator who originally heard the case, but substantially less than the minimum one-year suspension the NFL initially claimed it was pushing for. The settlement comes after the league appealed Robinson’s original decision, which it has the authority to do under the collective bargaining agreement. Goodell, who could hear the appeal and issue a ruling himself, appointed former New Jersey attorney general and frequent league associate Peter Harvey to do so — but the settlement resulted in a final ruling by Harvey. But try not to get caught up in the mechanics of it all. The NFL had the power to hear the appeal and make the decision, whatever decision it wanted. And while the league initially said (to Robinson and in leaks to reporters) that it wanted a one-year hold, it ended up being fine with 11 games. It’s hard, therefore, to believe that the NFL or Goodell ever cared about reaching that one-year mark. If they cared, they would have. Nothing was stopping them. True, the NFLPA could have taken the league to court for a no-negotiation decision, but if that stopped the NFL from going any further, pick a funny day to wake up and suddenly care about billable hours or some other legal battle with the union that usually enjoys winning. (The disciplinary authority granted by Goodell’s CBA was notably strengthened by a federal appeals court in the Deflategate case.) Even to say that the league has resolved its dispute with the union over Watson’s punishment seems disingenuous, as it is difficult to have disagreement when one side has all the power. Because this is a concession made to a person who Goodell believes has behaved aggressively, when that person had no legal leverage with which to extract it, the sentence imposed is insufficient. That said, it’s hard to calculate what would be appropriate – how many women and how much unwanted intercourse equals how many football games? There is no answer that does not have some arbitrary quality. But it would have had something significant if the NFL had actually imposed the minimum one-year suspension it originally claimed it wanted. The league operates in seasons, the units on which teams build rosters and on which fans pin their hopes. Watson’s ability to return in December (in a game against the Houston Texans, no less) softens the impact of his suspension. Now that he’ll be a part of the 2022 Browns, his discipline tangles with the twisted incentive structures of a team chasing a championship. It’s hard to say exactly what the right punishment is for so many transgressions, but a one-year suspension would be tangible in a way that 11 games isn’t—for both Watson and the Browns, who have been desperately trying to build a roster championship around him and then spent the entire summer trying to shield him and themselves from consequences, tough questions, or anything resembling accountability. The NFL had a chance to show some conviction in pushing for the suspension it initially said it wanted. Instead, as a mitigating factor in the statement announcing the settlement, Goodell said, “Deshaun is committed to doing the hard work on himself that is necessary to return to the NFL.” Watson will have to undergo some form of treatment by a “third-party behavioral expert” to finalize his reinstatement, which may be the commitment Goodell is referring to. But if that statement is supposed to suggest that genuine remorse and self-reflection from Watson contributed to the league’s willingness to settle the case, it’s an insult to the intelligence of anyone reading it. Minutes after the NFL released that statement — and after the team released a statement from Watson in which he said he would accept “responsibility for the decisions I made” — Watson, in his first news conference in months, said that he continues to “stand for my innocence” and that he “never attacked or disrespected anyone.” Watson had issued an apology of sorts in an interview with a reporter last week — notable timing, as his lack of remorse was aggravating. factor in Robinson’s decision and was considered a factor in the league’s decision to appeal — in which he apologized “To all the women I’ve affected in this situation.” (He was not specifically asked to address Robinson’s findings that he had committed sexual assault as defined by the NFL and presented by the league’s investigators. Watson clarified Thursday that he made that apology “in all women,” but not specifically to the women who said It stretches credulity to believe that one can watch him speak and to believe that he was watching a person who had taken a shred of real responsibility. Watson’s lack of accountability has been allowed by the Browns since trading for him, and team owners have been defiant in the face of criticism. In his own press conference Thursday following news of the settlement, team owner Jimmy Haslam said he would “absolutely” do it all over again. Even if he knew he was going to sit out 11 games and that a neutral arbitrator would agree with the NFL investigators’ findings, Haslam would still push his team to trade and then sign Watson to an unprecedented fully guaranteed contract 230 million dollars. Haslam showed he wasn’t worried about the character of the player he paid so much to acquire. The arrogance of this statement has to be striking, and is perhaps best explained by something Dee Haslam, Jimmy’s wife, said a short time later when she turned to the victim accuser, clumsily (and wrongly) equating massage therapy with sex. work. “There’s just a huge opportunity to talk about the important issues in our country in this area, like sex trafficking, the use of massage parlors,” Dee Haslam said. However, there’s less opportunity to talk about Watson’s own behavior, which the Haslams said they wouldn’t discuss, even though Jimmy Haslam said at one point that Watson had a chance to “rehabilitate.” So, in what the NFL and Watson’s NFLPA representatives believe is a solution to this situation, they offer a mess of contradictions and shirk responsibility. Watson will “do the hard work,” as Goodell said, even though there’s no work to be done. he apologized to everyone, but for nothing. He will see a counselor about his behavior, behavior he says is perfectly fine. Lest we forget any entries on the long list of people embarrassed in front of microphones in Cleveland on Thursday, Browns general manager Andrew Berry said the process the team went through to sign Watson, which did not include interviewing none of the women he said assaulted them before giving him the most guaranteed money in the history of the league, he was “thorough.” Coach Kevin Stefanski tried as humanly as possible to talk only football. Ultimately, no one in the NFL, NFLPA or Cleveland could offer a good explanation for the settlement, because there isn’t one. It doesn’t make sense because it can’t make sense, and every fraudulent excuse offered is another insult to the women Watson hurt. The Browns are used to being ridiculous. But never to this extent.