Cleveland Browns QB Deshaun Watson suspended 11 games, fined $5 million after NFL and NFLPA reach settlement.

was acquired by the Cleveland Browns earlier this year in exchange for three first-round selections. Watson was then given the highest guaranteed salary in NFL history—$230 million—as part of a five-year contract.

Following accusations of sexual misconduct by over two dozen women, the NFL and the NFL Players Association have decided to punish Cleveland Browns quarterback Deshaun Watson $5 million and suspend him for 11 regular season games without pay.

 

 

Watson told the journalists on Thursday, “I’m going to continue to stand on my innocence as I move on with my career and my life.” “A person is not guilty of anything just because they have settlements or other similar events in their past.”

“I think the person has the chance to stand on his innocence and prove that, and we proved that on the legal side,” he continued. “We just need to keep moving forward as a people and as an individual.”

Watson was the target of twenty-four civil cases, of which twenty-three have been secretly settled. In Texas, two grand juries decided not to indict Watson on criminal charges.

While Watson was a member of the Houston Texans, he engaged in private meetings with massage therapists in violation of the NFL’s personal conduct code. Commissioner Roger Goodell of the league referred to Watson’s actions as “egregious” and “predatory.”

Co-owner of the Browns Susan “Dee” Haslam pledged on Thursday to donate $1 million “towards educating youth for awareness of sexual misconduct.”

Is he never meant to play another game? Is he not meant to interact with society at all? Does he not have the opportunity to turn his life around? And that’s exactly what we want to do,” he stated, making reference to Watson.

“That does not imply that we lack empathy for those impacted, and we will persist in doing so,” he said. “We think Deshaun Watson ought to have another opportunity.”

Prior to this, the NFL had declared its intention to appeal a ruling made by former federal judge Sue L. Robinson, who had ordered Watson to sit out six games without pay for breaking the league’s personal conduct policy while he was playing for the Houston Texans.

Instead, the league had pushed for a punishment that would last at least the entire season.

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