On Tuesday, Tony Buzbee announced that “all but four” of the lawsuits filed against Cleveland Browns quarterback Deshaun Watson have been settled.
“Today I announce that all cases against Deshaun Watson with the exception of four, have settled,” said Buzbee. “We are working through the paperwork related to those settlements. Once we have done so, those particular cases will be dismissed. The terms and amounts of settlements are confidential. We won’t comment further on the settlements or those cases.”
So, how will this affect Watson’s status for the regular season? According to NFL insider Albert Breer of Sports Illustrated, “real closure” is more realistic because of these settlements.
Breer said the NFL and NFL Players Association had a June 30 deadline for pretrial discovery circled as an important date for their decision timeline.
With most of Watson’s lawsuits now settled, Breer expects the NFL to announce a decision before training camp.
It’s unclear what the punishment will be for Watson.
According to Mark Maske of The Washington Post, the NFL may seek a “significant” suspension of one full season for Watson.
The Browns gave Watson a fully guaranteed five-year, $230 million contract as part of the trade with the Texans. His base salary for this upcoming season is just a shade over $1 million though.