When the Browns traded for Deshaun Watson and gave him a fully-guaranteed contract earlier this year, the team was adamant that they had fully vetted the sexual misconduct allegations against Watson and that they were comfortable moving forward with him as their quarterback.
Watson had denied all allegations and that time and continued to deny doing anything wrong as more allegations came to light, but he ultimately settled the civil lawsuits against him and Thursday brought word of a settlement between the NFL and NFLPA that resulted in an 11-game suspension and a $5 million fine for Watson.
After that settlement was announced, Browns General Manager Andrew Berry was asked if the team would make the same decisions regarding Watson after what has unfolded over the last few months.
“Yes, we would,” Berry said. “We mentioned at the time our process was thorough, we felt like we made an informed decision. I understand why others may not have made the same decision that we did, but we do believe Deshaun has strong, positive qualities and we do think that he’s done everything in his power to integrate himself with our team. He’s done everything we’ve asked. We do believe that, as he goes through the self-improvement and self-growth process, that he has an opportunity to make a strong and positive contribution to our team and organization.”
Browns owner Jimmy Haslam also said he’d make the trade again and that they strongly believe Watson deserves a chance to “rehabilitate himself” as a member of the team. Watson continued to maintain his innocence at his own press conference on Thursday, which calls into question whether that’s something the quarterback has any interest in doing in the days, weeks, months, and years to come.