The Cleveland Browns might want take-backs on the Deshaun Watson trade.
The three-time Pro Bowl quarterback remains embroiled in a civil lawsuit wherein 24 women accuse him of committing sexual assault. The number may increase, according to the plaintiffs’ lawyer, Tony Buzbee. The NFL is reportedly seeking a “significant” suspension of Watson.
As the Browns languish due to Watson’s availability issues, the Texans still have the Browns’ first-round picks through 2024 as part of the haul from trading Watson.
However, the trade is final, according to general manager Nick Caserio.
“Maybe you call [Roger] Goodell and ask him,” Caserio told “Payne & Pendergast” on Sports Radio 610 [KILT-AM] on June 16. “Any trade — forget about this particular one — any trade that takes place, so, there is a process that you have to go through, the teams agree on that, and then once you agree on that it gets submitted to the league, the transaction gets processed, and then it goes on file with the league.”
Caserio joked about scenarios that could possibly void the trade.
“Unless there is somebody that is going to go in there overnight in a mask and try to get on a computer and may have a cyber attack or something like that, not sure there’s anything that can be done there,” Caserio said. “So, no different than a draft day trade, even though it kind of happens more in real time. You have an agreement in place, okay, you contact the league. We have a trade. We have agreement. You sign the paperwork along, and everyone goes along their merry way.
“So, unless I’m missing something, or unless Seth [Payne] calls Goodell and asks him for his interpretation and opinion, I would say that whatever trades have happened have happened. They’re in the past, and now we’re just focused on training camp and moving forward with the team.”
If the trade could be voided in any way, it would be fascinating to see how the league handled it, given that Houston used Cleveland’s No. 13 overall pick in the 2022 NFL draft to acquire the Philadelphia Eagles’ No. 15 pick to take Texas A&M guard Kenyon Green. The Eagles used that pick to take Georgia defensive tackle Jordan Davis.
