Judge Finally Rules on Deshaun Watson Suspension Length

We finally have some closure.

Former federal judge Sue L. Robinson has ruled Deshaun Watson should be suspended six games for violation of the NFL’s personal conduct policy, according to ESPN’s Adam Schefter.

Ian Rapoport of NFL Network also reported the news.

NFL now has three days to decide to appeal Deshaun Watson’s six-game suspension.

— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) August 1, 2022

Watson will not be fined, per Schefter, and Mark Maske of the Washington Post noted how the suspension will impact Watson’s pay this season:

The six-game suspension is without pay and will cost Deshaun Watson $345,000 of his $1.035 million salary for this season. There is no additional fine imposed by NFL/NFLPA disciplinary officer Sue L. Robinson.

— MarkMaske (@MarkMaske) August 1, 2022

Back in March 2021, Tony Buzbee announced several lawsuits filed against Watson by women who had all been hired by the then-Houston Texans quarterback to perform massages. A total of 25 lawsuits were filed, all accusing Watson of sexual assault or misconduct, although one was dropped early in the process.

The NFL released a statement in April 2021 in which it said it would investigate the “deeply disturbing” allegations.

Statement from the NFL concerning @deshaunwatson: pic.twitter.com/KcQk14yCro

— Mark Berman (@MarkBermanFox26) April 6, 2021

Charles Robinson of Yahoo Sports reported in July that Watson and the players association planned on filing a lawsuit against the NFL in federal court if he was suspended for a full season.

Another note: If Watson ends up incurring the full-year suspension the #NFL is seeking – either from the arbitrator or a league appeal of Robinson’s decision – I’m told his camp and the @NFLPA have already made the decision to file a lawsuit against the league in federal court. https://t.co/KdwXJjhBz3

— Charles Robinson (@CharlesRobinson) July 18, 2022

However, the NFLPA released a statement Sunday ahead of the ruling saying it would not appeal the decision and calling on the league to do the same.

Our joint statement with Deshaun Watson on the impending arbitration decision: pic.twitter.com/9ObLnHiX6J

— NFLPA (@NFLPA) July 31, 2022

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