This whole Deshaun Watson saga has been going on for well over a year now. And while there’s still no sign of it coming to an end, we do appear to have a rough timeline for when we can expect the NFL to make their final decision on the Cleveland Browns quarterback’s fate.
One NFL source recently suggested to Josina Anderson that the NFL could hand down a penalty similar to Trevor Bauer’s two-year suspension that he received from Major League Baseball. Will the National Football League go the same route and tell Watson he has to stay away from the league for a year or two? According to his lawyer, Rusty Hardin, we could find out soon enough.
Hardin recently spoke with Cleveland Browns insider Mary Kay Cabot, detailing a rough timeline of when he expects the NFL to administer their punishment, if any, for Watson’s off-the-field actions:
“We should know what their position is initially sometime in June, and then everybody will figure out if there’s going to be a hearing about it or can people work things out, or whatever,” Hardin told cleveland.com by phone on Friday evening. “The only thing that’s certain is that they want to try to get everything done this summer — and earlier than later in the summer. Past that, we don’t really have any firm dates or possibilities.”
Hardin believes the NFL will want to talk to Watson at least one more time regarding the 24 separate allegations of sexual misconduct that he’s facing from massage therapists that he had booked private sessions with.
Hardin also spoke about the perception that the NFL hasn’t done enough in it’s investigation. To refute this claim, he points to the three days that Watson spent with the league, answering their questions on the matter.
“This idea that [the NFL] hasn’t aggressively investigated this is totally, totally false as evidenced by the fact he’s already spent three days with them,’’ Hardin said. “They’ve obviously done a bunch of research and done a lot of work themselves and they say need to do some more.”
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Hardin also believes that Trevor Bauer’s suspension will have no effect on Watson’s, as they are completely different situations.
“I’m going to try to be an optimist and say [Trevor Bauer’s suspension] will have no effect at all,’’ Hardin said. “Because it has no logical connection.”
Hardin is clearly taking the optimist approach when it comes to his client’s future. Whether or not that approach pays off? We should find out some time in June.
