By Marc Lawrence, PlaybookSports.com — For good or bad, we are rounding a corner with the Deshaun Watson issues, at least when it comes to on the field. The Cleveland Browns made a massive trade and gave Watson a huge new contract despite over 20 serious allegations against him.
Now, despite two grand juries choosing not to press charges, Watson still had 24 civil lawsuits against him before settling with 20 of them last week.
Today starts the hearing by an independent arbiter where the NFL and NFLPA will have their time to share their evidence. And it is possible that Watson and the NFLPA will decide to take the route Tom Brady took after his “Deflategate” suspension.
Remember, the Brady investigation started on May 6, 2015 and it wasn’t until July 15, 2016 before Brady accepted the suspension and ended his legal objections.
If the arbitrator, Sue Robinson, or Roger Goodell’s decision leads to a year or more suspension (which is what the NFL is said to want), it is possible that Watson’s situation could see a similar timeline as that of Brady.
The fact that a woman is the arbitrator does not bode well for Watson.
