The Cleveland Browns pursuit and acquisition of QB Deshaun Watson will be franchise-defining. First, the pursuit led to Baker Mayfield, the quarterback that led them to the playoffs in 2020, to request a trade. Second, the trade for Watson cost the team a significant amount of draft capital. Third, Watson’s contract is both guaranteed and has huge cap hits associated with it.
The final piece is still to be decided with the discipline process ongoing with the NFL and NFLPA arguing in front of Judge Sue Robinson for the third day on Thursday.
It is now known that the NFL is seeking an indefinite suspension with the possibility of requesting reinstatement after one year. The NFLPA may argue for no discipline or at least that there is no precedence for such a lengthy suspension for Watson.
