Watson to Cleveland - Fully guaranteed 5 year $230M contract

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Merlin

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Makes me think the NFL might go after some of the Texans picks at some point.
 

thirteen28

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This appears to be getting worse. This day and age, he’s going to get buried by social media.


"What has become clear is that the Houston Texans organization and their contracting 'massage therapy company' facilitated Deshaun Watson's conduct," Buzbee, the attorney for the 24 women who filed suits against Watson, said in a statement, via ESPN.

"In many of these cases, the Texans provided the opportunity for this conduct to occur. We believe the Texans organization was well aware of Watson's issues but failed to act. They knew or certainly should have known.

"We intend to make sure all involved in Watson's conduct are held accountable, in addition to, and including, Watson himself."


Good God, things could actually get worse for the Texans than this guy made them:

1654802523379.png
 

Merlin

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I feel bad for Lovie. Dude gets a big shot with a Texans roster that nobody expects to do anything, plus he's got tons of picks to rebuild. And Lovie has a knack for getting his defense to hustle, so they're gonna play good defense once he gets his program fully going. They even might be ok at QB if Mills can actually stay healthy, which is unlikely but it would be funny to see given the way shit went down there.

So I hope they don't take picks from them. I just have a soft spot for our former DC and the way his ring was stolen from him by the cheatriots.
 

Mackeyser

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Just think... this disclosure means the defendants can now go after an NFL franchise worth BILLIONS.

This is "NFL forces sale of team" level stuff... because the NFL will NEVER allow for disclosure regarding the books of an NFL franchise. They'll force a settlement on the Texans current ownership group and then find a new owner, super quick like...
 

OldSchool

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Just think... this disclosure means the defendants can now go after an NFL franchise worth BILLIONS.

This is "NFL forces sale of team" level stuff... because the NFL will NEVER allow for disclosure regarding the books of an NFL franchise. They'll force a settlement on the Texans current ownership group and then find a new owner, super quick like...
Browns ownership isn't in the clear either you gotta think.
 

payote75

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That could be how the whole bad blood between he and the Texans started. He may have been called out on it or told to stop or anything which is why they were ok with him not playing and he also could have felt betrayed which I believe he did say at one point. All speculation but sometimes when you start to take the pieces and put them together and they fit could be something there.

Now lastly and this would be huge if true I've heard all day today that the Browns may have a loophole in Watsons contract stipulating that the guarantee is based on the 22 allegations but if there were to be more they could indeed walk away or something to that extent. Basically additional women filing would negate the contract. If that's true they still effed but a lot less effed money wise and possibly save face just a tiny bit and I do mean a tiny bit. Somewhere though Baker is laughing and good on him shame on the Browns as if 22 was ok lol but not 23 or 24 we have a limit as to how many women you can basically molest!!! We do have some morals and ethics after all!!! Lol
 

BuffaloRam

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That could be how the whole bad blood between he and the Texans started. He may have been called out on it or told to stop or anything which is why they were ok with him not playing and he also could have felt betrayed which I believe he did say at one point. All speculation but sometimes when you start to take the pieces and put them together and they fit could be something there.

Now lastly and this would be huge if true I've heard all day today that the Browns may have a loophole in Watsons contract stipulating that the guarantee is based on the 22 allegations but if there were to be more they could indeed walk away or something to that extent. Basically additional women filing would negate the contract. If that's true they still effed but a lot less effed money wise and possibly save face just a tiny bit and I do mean a tiny bit. Somewhere though Baker is laughing and good on him shame on the Browns as if 22 was ok lol but not 23 or 24 we have a limit as to how many women you can basically molest!!! We do have some morals and ethics after all!!! Lol
Imagine the trade being voided - what would happen to the draft picks from this year that have been used?
 

OldSchool

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Imagine the trade being voided - what would happen to the draft picks from this year that have been used?
Forfeit would be the best imo. Texans don't get them for their cover up and the Browns don't get them because they supposedly investigated this and somehow never found anything wrong. Watson indefinitely suspended.
 

Merlin

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That could be how the whole bad blood between he and the Texans started. He may have been called out on it or told to stop or anything which is why they were ok with him not playing and he also could have felt betrayed which I believe he did say at one point. All speculation but sometimes when you start to take the pieces and put them together and they fit could be something there.

Now lastly and this would be huge if true I've heard all day today that the Browns may have a loophole in Watsons contract stipulating that the guarantee is based on the 22 allegations but if there were to be more they could indeed walk away or something to that extent. Basically additional women filing would negate the contract. If that's true they still effed but a lot less effed money wise and possibly save face just a tiny bit and I do mean a tiny bit. Somewhere though Baker is laughing and good on him shame on the Browns as if 22 was ok lol but not 23 or 24 we have a limit as to how many women you can basically molest!!! We do have some morals and ethics after all!!! Lol
I recall thinking the timing of all this leaking out was suspicious given him pushing for the contract or whatever at that time. It was almost like the Texans knew about it and leaked it to sour his BS. Like it was personal.

But yeah this is all speculation which is fun but we'll never know.

Also and btw the Texans already used a draft pick from the trade. So if the Browns nullify the deal they're still short a first round pick. Which is great and fitting in all this in some ways.
 

payote75

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Imagine the trade being voided - what would happen to the draft picks from this year that have been used?

Yea I don't know how that would go....maybe the trade not voided and his contract can be that's the browns option unless now it comes to light with evidence that Houston was involved in some way cover up or condoned or enabled it somehow etc.
 

payote75

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I recall thinking the timing of all this leaking out was suspicious given him pushing for the contract or whatever at that time. It was almost like the Texans knew about it and leaked it to sour his BS. Like it was personal.

But yeah this is all speculation which is fun but we'll never know.

Also and btw the Texans already used a draft pick from the trade. So if the Browns nullify the deal they're still short a first round pick. Which is great and fitting in all this in some ways.

I'm thinking and again speculation the browns went into this knowing what they knew and made the trade so unless Houston involved in some way the browns may only be able to walk away from the contract if those stipulations truly are in there. I don't think the whole trade would be reversed like you said pick already used etc.
 

Flint

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Jesus, were the Texans complicit in all this shit? They better make sure their retainers are up to date.


View: https://twitter.com/BleacherReport/status/1534270610712449025?s=20&t=-H0-UEco5zWIkWQJJfDfww

This is going to get expensive for the Texans, what possible reason could they have for giving out nda’s unless they knew something bad and maybe illegal was going on. I’m not a lawyer but it sounds like someone knew something and if that’s true they’re probably gonna pay.
 

CGI_Ram

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Could 24th lawsuit against Deshaun Watson eventually allow Browns to void his guarantees?​

Perhaps the most significant development from Monday in the Deshaun Watson situation was no development at all. Specifically, the lack of a response from Watson’s team to the 24th lawsuit could end up creating significant consequences for Watson with the league and/or the team.

Attorney Rusty Hardin issued a statement on Monday indicating that he’s unable to respond to the 24th lawsuit because “our legal team has not had time to investigate this new filing and had not heard her name until today.”

There’s an important distinction between not hearing her name and not being aware of her potential claims. The early stages of the civil litigation against Watson featured a delicate and convoluted guessing game as to who the plaintiffs were, because they initially sued under the Jane Doe pseudonym. The effort to identify potential plaintiffs potentially included a person whose name Watson didn’t know or remember who eventually would make the claims reduced to writing in the lawsuit filed Monday. Hardin’s statement says only that they hadn’t heard the person’s name until Monday; it’s possible they knew, via aggressive questioning of their own client, that there was a 24th interaction that could have resulted in a claim being made.

That’s important for multiple reasons. First, if this person whose name previously wasn’t known to Watson’s legal team now files a criminal complaint, the allegations could be submitted to another grand jury. And the graphic details contained in the 24th complaint, if repeated to a grand jury and accepted by the grand jury, could result in an indictment. (Although I’ve tried to avoid repeating the graphic details, the 24th plaintiff contends that, after trying to get the plaintiff to to touch his penis and asking her “where do you want me to put it?” he ejaculated — and “some of his ejaculate got on Plaintiff’s chest and face.”)

Second, if Watson eventually is suspended for the conduct alleged in the 24th lawsuit, the Browns possibly will be able to void his guarantees and move on from him, and possibly to recover a significant portion of his signing bonus.

As explained in early April, after we obtained a full copy of Watson’s contract, the contract exempts from the standard default/guarantee void language a suspension imposed by the league “solely in connection with matters disclosed to Club in writing pursuant to paragraph 42 and such suspension results in Player’s unavailability to Club solely for games during the 2022 or 2023 NFL League Years.”

In paragraph 42 of the contract, Watson “represents and warrants (except as disclosed to club in writing), as of the date hereof, that (i) Player has not been charged with, indicted for, convicted of or pled nolo contende to any felony and/or misdemeanor involving fraud or moral turpitude, (ii) Player has not engaged in conduct which would subject him to a charge, indictment or conviction of any such offense, and (iii) no circumstances exist that would prevent Player’s continuing availability to the Club for the duration of this Contract.”

The written disclosure was not attached to the contract. A source with knowledge of the document told us in April that it’s a “fair assumption” that it refers to the 22 pending civil lawsuits.

The question now becomes whether it was written broadly enough to encompass individuals who had not previously come forward, either with a lawsuit, a criminal complaint, or some other public statement. The plaintiff who sued last week, for example, was known to Watson’s camp because she did a podcast interview last August. Based on Hardin’s statement, they didn’t know the name of the person who filed the 24th lawsuit until Monday.

Beyond the question of whether the 24th plaintiff’s claims could potentially fall beyond the language of the exception to the default language in Watson’s contract is the basic reality that Watson ultimately could be suspended at some point after 2022 and 2023. Without any clear indication as to when the NFL will act against Watson and with literally two dozen lawsuits that will work their way through the legal system (with August 1 through March 1 out of bounds for any of the trials), if the league either defers all punishment until the cases are over (not likely) or imposes a preliminary suspension now and leaves the door open for another suspension based on the outcomes of the cases (a reasonable middle ground), Watson could still face a suspension in 2024 or beyond.

Then there’s the possibility that still can’t be ignored of the NFL changing its position on paid leave. Although Commissioner Roger Goodell removed paid leave from the table in late March, recent developments could put it back in play. When we asked the league that very specific question on Monday — a question the Commissioner freely answered in March — the league had no comment.

So we’ll see how it all plays out. For the first time since the flurry of lawsuits was filed in 2021, however, a case will play out involving a person whose name wasn’t previously known to Watson’s camp. That could (not will, but could) potentially create major problems for Watson, in multiple ways.
 

kurtfaulk

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does this sound familiar?


A US district judge has dismissed a rape lawsuit against football superstar Cristiano Ronaldo, castigating the legal team behind the complaint.
Judge Jennifer Dorsey threw out the case brought by Kathryn Mayorga, a former model and teacher, who alleged she was assaulted by the Portuguese soccer star in a Las Vegas hotel room in 2009.

The 37-year-old Manchester United player has always denied the allegations and maintained that the relationship with Mayorga was completely consensual.

,,,

A criminal case based on the rape allegation against the Manchester United forward was dropped in 2019, with a district attorney saying it “cannot be proven beyond a reasonable doubt” that a sexual assault occurred.

But Mayorga, who waived her right to anonymity, also took up a civil action seeking millions in damages.

She filed a complaint in 2018 alleging she was sexually assaulted by Ronaldo, who strongly denied the accusations.

.
 

IE Rams

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Makes me think the NFL might go after some of the Texans picks at some point.

Imagine the trade being voided - what would happen to the draft picks from this year that have been used?

This is all uncharted territory. If Houston is culpable, then they should lose those picks. But those picks are human beings. What to do with these innocent bystanders who have busted their asses to start a career in the NFL? Create another lottery for the other teams, who would have to honor their contracts? Leave them alone and penalize the Texans in future drafts?

Also, did the Texans deal any of those Cleveland picks to other teams, and for what?

Where to begin and where to draw the line?

This is ugly.