Deshaun Watson's odds of suiting up for Week One of 2022 NFL season shot down by insider
The Deshaun Watson saga appeared to be winding down to a close. Watson was handed a six-game suspension by Judge Sue L. Robinson. That seemed to be the end of the never-ending saga that lasted what felt like years.
However, the NFL did not think that the punishment fit the crime, so they filed a formal appeal of the suspension. After that, the NFLPA filed their response to the appeal.
We have filed our reply brief to the NFL’s appeal regarding the Deshaun Watson matter.
All of this puts the entire thing up in the air, and when suspensions are being appealed, it usually means the suspended player will not miss any games until the appeal is finished.
That could mean that Watson would be eligible to face the man he replaced, Baker Mayfield, in Week One in Charlotte. One NFL analyst pumped the brakes on this idea, though.
On the Ari Meirov Show, Brad Spielberger had this to say:
"So I lean towards it not happening, not necessarily because of the personal conduct policy system, but because of a point that, you know, Pro Football Talk's Mike Florio has raised, but a couple other attorneys as well, is that he didn't appeal and honestly publicly said he was not going to appeal the initial six-game suspension."
Deshaun Watson's acceptance of punishment may prove costly
Deshaun Watson accepted the punishment given to him. This may come back to haunt him. Spielberger believes Watson's initial response to the suspension indicates he won't be able to play the first official week of the NFL season:
"So to then ask for a temporary restraining order and try to kind of pause the current punishment in play right away, you kind of throw that out the window by not appealing the original six-game suspension in the first place. If you were to appeal, the second, you know, finding it would be more of a, hey, we're not happy with the procedure that took place here."
The NFL is appealing Deshaun Watson’s six-game suspension.
Buckle up.
He went on to say that while Watson and the NFLPA probably don't want six games to turn into a year or more, they made their peace with the punishment in the first place:
"And we're not happy with six turning into, you know, a full season plus a fine, but we're not actually you know, attacking and fighting this original six-game suspension."
He added that the unique nature of his contract with the Cleveland Browns pushes the quarterback to serve the punishment as soon as possible:
"You know, another component of this is because the way his contract was structured, he has a $46 million salary next year in 2023, only $1,035,000 in 2022. So if he's going to service suspension, and he made it clear, he was fine serving a six-game suspension. He wants to get it done as soon as possible."
There's currently no timetable on the official decision on the NFL's appeal yet. Deshaun Watson will have to continue his wait.
If you use any of the above quotes, please credit the Ari Meirov Show and H/T Sportskeeda