The NFL will review the latest allegations of sexual misconduct made against Cleveland Browns quarterback Deshaun Watson but will not place him on paid administrative leave at this point, it said Tuesday.
By Mark Maske
and “We are reviewing the complaint and we will look into the matter under the Personal Conduct Policy,” NFL spokesman Brian McCarthy said in a statement.
He said the league is “not looking at [the] Commissioner’s Exempt list as there’s been no formal charges and the league’s review has just begun.”
The new lawsuit was filed Monday in Harris County (Tex.) District Court and alleges Watson “roughly sexually assaulted” a woman in October 2020 after she invited him to dinner at her apartment. Watson played for the Houston Texans at the time.
The lawsuit filed Monday seeks a jury trial and damages in excess of $1 million. The accuser is represented by Anthony Buzbee, the attorney who represented women who filed more than two dozen lawsuits accusing Watson of sexual misconduct during massage therapy sessions.
Watson served an 11-game suspension and was fined $5 million in 2022 for violating the personal conduct policy based on those allegations under a settlement reached between the NFL and the NFL Players Association. He has denied the allegations and has not been charged with a crime. Buzbee previously said Watson reached settlements with 23 of the accusers and one lawsuit was withdrawn.
A 26th lawsuit was filed against Watson, also accusing him of sexual misconduct during a massage therapy session, in October 2022 by a woman represented by a different attorney.
Watson is in the third season of his five-year contract with the Browns worth a guaranteed $230 million. He played in Sunday’s 33-17 defeat to the Dallas Cowboys in Cleveland in the Browns’ season opener.
It’s not clear whether any further allegations of misconduct by Watson could, if substantiated, put him in violation of his contract. The Browns have declined to comment. It’s also not clear if Watson’s representatives and the NFLPA would argue that the latest allegations, even if substantiated, would fall under the scope of the 2022 disciplinary settlement between the league and the union and thus would preclude further disciplinary actions. The NFLPA and Watson’s representatives have not responded to requests for comment, and Watson has not been made available to comment.
Under the current version of the personal conduct policy, the league can conduct an investigation and recommend disciplinary action. The initial ruling is made by a disciplinary officer jointly selected and compensated by the league and the NFLPA, subject to an appeal by either side to Commissioner Roger Goodell or an appeals officer designated by him.
The settlement between the league and NFLPA resulting in Watson’s 11-game suspension in 2022 came after the NFL appealed the six-game suspension originally imposed by disciplinary officer Sue L. Robinson. The NFL had sought an indefinite suspension of at least one full season.
The conduct policy also allows the league to put a player on paid administrative leave via placement on the commissioner’s exempt list — keeping him off the field as the NFL disciplinary process plays out — if the player is formally charged with a felony or a crime of violence or in other specified circumstances. A player placed on the exempt list is paid by his team but is prohibited from participating in practice or attending games.
Watson did not play in the 2021 season for the Texans before they traded him to the Browns in March 2022. The NFL left Watson eligible to play that season. The Texans continued to pay him, but they placed him on their game-day inactive list on a weekly basis.
