Texans' Deshaun Watson accused of indecent conduct in civil lawsuit; QB denies wrongdoing

[YoloinOhio]

ok then 

[TBBills]

Just now, YoloinOhio said:

ok then 

Good, last thing I wanted was for this to get swept under the rug.

[Doc]

Even if he were to settle, Rog could hit him with a lengthy suspension.

[machine gun kelly]

Doc- the disciplinary committee not Rog as he doesn’t govern that unilaterally anymore will most assuredly suspend him regardless of a civil suit.  I was trying to have an open mind, but it seems most likely he did something.

 

hes going on the exemption list where he can’t play for a long time no matter.

[GunnerBill]

4 hours ago, Doc said:

Even if he were to settle, Rog could hit him with a lengthy suspension.

 

He is looking at a minimum of half a season I think. The slight issue for the league is suspending Deshaun Watson for the entirety of 2021 while obviously a serious punishment kind of plays into his hands. He has no interest in play for Houston again anyway - he basically gets to sit out and then immediately be the most sought after trade piece in the league next spring. I don't think the personal conduct policy (at least on my reading of it) allows the league to suspend a definite punishment. They can issue suspended penalties but on condition, but they can't suspend a definite penalty a year just because that is when it most hurts the player. I suspect that would also breach the CBA. 

 

All a little moot if the "settling" story is in fact not true but in a world where Watson does settle in the next month or so the NFL is in a tricky spot punishment wise. 

[Putin]

4 hours ago, machine gun kelly said:

Doc- the disciplinary committee not Rog as he doesn’t govern that unilaterally anymore will most assuredly suspend him regardless of a civil suit.  I was trying to have an open mind, but it seems most likely he did something.

 

hes going on the exemption list where he can’t play for a long time no matter.

How long can they keep him from not being able to play ??

[machine gun kelly]

Putin, I believe that committee can place him on the exempt list for an entire year.  I’m not sure so wait and one of the guys with too much time on his hands can look it up somewhere.  I’m trying to remember the last guy that went on that list.  It was for a long time if memory serves.

 

My reasoning why it could be a year is I don’t see these suits and investigation getting resolved anytime soon.  Now that there are signs the Texans are giving hints they are distancing themselves from Watson.  I was listening to the comments from Kirwan yesterday on MTC as he was mentioning how silly the Texans comments were how high they were on their third round QB pick.  His point was this young inexperienced QB from not a big time program who’s not even been on a practice field yet is a stretch.  He said something like “let’s see him just get on the field” as they don’t really know what they have with the draft pick.

[Saxum]

Note the team is paying the salary so is really one being penalized. Player only loses per game bonuses and incentives for game time, scores, pro bowl, etc.

Player can attend meetings (doubt Texans want him to attend) and get therapy.

 

https://www.nbcsports.com/boston/patriots/just-what-nfl-commissioners-exempt-list

Quote

"The Commissioner also has the authority to determine in advance whether a player's time on the Exempt List will be finite or will continue until the Commissioner deems the exemption should be lifted and the player returned to the Active List."

 

[GunnerBill]

2 minutes ago, Limeaid said:

Note the team is paying the salary so is really one being penalized. Player only loses per game bonuses and incentives for game time, scores, pro bowl, etc.

Player can attend meetings (doubt Texans want him to attend) and get therapy.

 

https://www.nbcsports.com/boston/patriots/just-what-nfl-commissioners-exempt-list

 

 

Yea they will try and avoid having him the whole season on the exempt list if at all possible. Which is why if we get a resolution by training camp I expect the punishment to kick in pretty quickly and hence the difficult spot the NFL are in where they could be suspending him for a year he likely wasn't going to play in anyway.

[Saxum]

1 minute ago, GunnerBill said:

 

Yea they will try and avoid having him the whole season on the exempt list if at all possible. Which is why if we get a resolution by training camp I expect the punishment to kick in pretty quickly and hence the difficult spot the NFL are in where they could be suspending him for a year he likely wasn't going to play in anyway.

 

Paid vacation.

[GunnerBill]

Just now, Limeaid said:

 

Paid vacation.

 

Yea they will want to get him off that and onto the suspension list. 

[Saxum]

Just now, GunnerBill said:

 

Yea they will want to get him off that and onto the suspension list. 

 

Suspension list IS paid vacation - paid for by team he is on roster on.  

If commissioner keeps on it next year then he is financially penalized.

[GunnerBill]

2 minutes ago, Limeaid said:

 

Suspension list IS paid vacation - paid for by team he is on roster on.  

If commissioner keeps on it next year then he is financially penalized.

 

I didn't think that was right.... I thought once a punishment had been handed down they went on the suspended list and the the team got their game checks back as salary cap credits? 

[Hapless Bills Fan]

14 hours ago, GunnerBill said:

 

He is looking at a minimum of half a season I think. The slight issue for the league is suspending Deshaun Watson for the entirety of 2021 while obviously a serious punishment kind of plays into his hands. He has no interest in play for Houston again anyway - he basically gets to sit out and then immediately be the most sought after trade piece in the league next spring. I don't think the personal conduct policy (at least on my reading of it) allows the league to suspend a definite punishment. They can issue suspended penalties but on condition, but they can't suspend a definite penalty a year just because that is when it most hurts the player. I suspect that would also breach the CBA. 

 

All a little moot if the "settling" story is in fact not true but in a world where Watson does settle in the next month or so the NFL is in a tricky spot punishment wise. 

 

As far as I know, the League can appoint an "independent investigator" who takes as long as they want it to take, and only announce the punishment after the investigation is complete.

3 hours ago, Limeaid said:

 

Suspension list IS paid vacation - paid for by team he is on roster on.  

If commissioner keeps on it next year then he is financially penalized.

 

No that's wrong.  If the player is suspended, they won't get paid and their amortized signing bonus for the suspended games must be repaid to the team.

 

The "owie!" you may be thinking of is if a player is placed on the "Commissioner's Exempt List".  That screws the team, as the player still gets paid but the team doesn't get their services.

[GunnerBill]

Just now, Hapless Bills Fan said:

 

As far as I know, the League can appoint an "independent investigator" who takes as long as they want it to take, and only announce the punishment after the investigation is complete.

 

Yep I think they could try and do a very long investigation to make the suspension take effect for 2022. The question is what do they do in the meantime? Leave him eligible to play? I'm not sure that is a great look either. It's tricky. 

[YoloinOhio]

 

 

[mannc]

1 hour ago, YoloinOhio said:

 

 

The existence of a serious criminal investigation (assuming there is one) would make settling the civil cases very complicated.

[YoloinOhio]

 

[BADOLBILZ]

On 5/12/2021 at 4:04 PM, GunnerBill said:

 

Yep I think they could try and do a very long investigation to make the suspension take effect for 2022. The question is what do they do in the meantime? Leave him eligible to play? I'm not sure that is a great look either. It's tricky. 

 

 

Shelved with pay in 2021........a thorough investigation.........and then a full season suspension in 2022 is about the only way the NFL doesn't come off looking much too lenient if he is guilty of this behavior.

 

It's a much bigger issue for the NFL than his season's pay check..........they really can't let him play from a PR standpoint.

 

With prior sexual assault type cases it was typically one person claiming they were harmed...........in that case there is usually the distinct possibility that perhaps the interaction was consensual or was embellished or even a lie...........this is a couple dozen different women.

[GunnerBill]

51 minutes ago, BADOLBILZ said:

 

 

Shelved with pay in 2021........a thorough investigation.........and then a full season suspension in 2022 is about the only way the NFL doesn't come off looking much too lenient if he is guilty of this behavior.

 

It's a much bigger issue for the NFL than his season's pay check..........they really can't let him play from a PR standpoint.

 

With prior sexual assault type cases it was typically one person claiming they were harmed...........in that case there is usually the distinct possibility that perhaps the interaction was consensual or was embellished or even a lie...........this is a couple dozen different women.

 

Agree which is why from the NFL's the civil matter dragging on, not settled, and the trial stretching into the autumn really is the best scenario. It allows them to argue they have acted expeditiously without risking the PR damage. I haven't read the new CBA cover to cover but it would be normal in such labour agreements for there to be a requirement for the league to act in a timely manner in regards to discipline so the case settling now would, I think, make it really tough for them to stretch the investigation out as long as they need to for PR purposes. Sounds like the settling story was untrue anyway, but it is a strange and difficult disciplinary landscape for the NFL to navigate in this case. As a bit of a legal geek it is very interesting to watch.