Deshaun Watson suspended for 6 games, NFL has 3 days to appeal

| American Football | 08/02/2022

By Noah Costantino

It seems the twisted case of Deshaun Watson v The NFL has come to an end as Judge Sue Robinson has ruled that Watson will serve a six-game suspension for violating the NFL’s personal conduct policy.

What does that mean going forward?

For starters, the NFL has a chance to appeal the ruling and override it in any way they see fit. As stated previously, the NFL wanted Watson out for a whole season. Watson’s legal team issued a joint statement together with the NFLPA saying they will not appeal the six-game suspension. The NFL will have three days to appeal the ruling.

Reaction around the league has been swift; this ruling as “too light”.

As time goes on, we will only see the true reaction of the NFL world in the following days or weeks. At the end of the day, Watson has still not been proven guilty of any of the 25 civil lawsuits filed against him.

Just the night prior to the ruling of the suspension, Watson and his legal team had settled three of the remaining four cases against him, after settling the other 20 earlier in June of 2022.

What does this mean for the Cleveland Browns now? No doubt they see this suspension as an absolute win. Watson will make his first appearance in the regular season in Week 7 in Baltimore against the Ravens. The following week will be his first game at home against another division rival, the Cincinnati Bengals in a primetime game on Halloween night.

Watson will still be able to participate in training camp and even play in preseason games for Cleveland, but that is the most we will see of him for now. Jacoby Brissett will likely be the starter for the six weeks that Watson will miss.

Recently, the Browns signed former first round draft pick Josh Rosen. However, Rosen has been nothing more than a “camp arm”. He has not taken many snaps in team sessions at training camp. Rosen may play in the preseason games for the Browns but will most likely not be on the roster come week 1 of the regular season.

Are the Browns still Super Bowl contenders? Will the NFL appeal Watson’s suspension? What type of backlash will the league face for this decision? Although there are still so many questions and not many answers, the main one, it seems, has been answered; as of now, it is highly likely that Deshaun Watson will suit up for the Cleveland Browns in 2022.

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