Yeah, I think so, too. Just trying to think of other players and with OBJ coming off injury and not having huge leverage, and playing with a top QB, was thinking maybe him.
Just posting in here so you guys can start building an immunity to Clemson fans. Go Cleavland Browns woof woof!
Baker leaves, Watson enters...and now Landry & Clowney want to come back. One player eluded to the Browns being a "Stafford away from a Super Bowl"; and the FA's want to come to Cleveland now. Spoiler Watson effect........ 42 VIP Back To Topics Posted on 13 hrs, V I P, User Since 18 months ago, User Post Count: 730 13 hrsVIP 18 months 730 Talked to a league source and this quote stood out. I wanted to share it here: "Guys don't take less money to play with Baker, which is something you get with Watson." Maybe Baker was a problem?
It’s gross, I am not sure when they trot Watson out to the media but whoa boy. What is your definition of “work”
I’m excited about it from a pure football perspective. On paper, Watson is the best QB they’ve had since??? Bernie maybe? Off the field included, my excitement is greatly subdued…and I’m kind of pissed for myself and every other Browns fan out there. We’re getting robbed of the excitement that should come with a move like this. I’m not turning my back on the team I’ve followed for 40 years over this. Will everything that includes Watson always come with a footnote? Probably so. I’ve accepted that it’s how it’s going to be though, and that’s the cross the organization has chosen to bear.
The whole situation makes me feel super uncomfortable. I'd be lying if I said I fully stopped listening to musicians, watching athletes, or enjoying comedy/art from people that have done bad things (even abusers), but there's typically some form of contrition or acceptance of forgiving them. Watson seems like he's parading around in a victory lap right now and just recovered from an ACL injury or something. There's never going to be any contrition there. On top of that, it makes me feel very odd about how another tough person to root for (Haslem) probably steamrolled his way to making this trade. On top of that, it makes me feel odd that Stefanski and Berry - two guys who I thought had a lot of integrity and did things the right way - were at best complicit and at worst active in making the move. Makes me think about billionaires steamrolling a minority in a power position (Berry) and making him do the trade and I feel even worse. On top of that, it's an odd move from a football perspective. Three first round draft picks is one of the most massive trade hauls ever, will significantly decrease my interest in the draft as a fan until 2025, and $230,000,000 of guaranteed money is absolutely unheard of, even for people not facing 22 civil lawsuits, and makes me feel we're going to be an aging team in cap purgatory pretty quickly. The fact that they structured his contract knowing he will probably face some sort of suspension and he will have zero repercussions is also very icky. Will I never watch a Browns game again? Not saying that. It'll be hard to ever extricate myself from caring about the franchise that has been with me my whole life. But, man, its become really tough to care right now and I feel pretty shitty about how this all went down. Not sure how much I will support the team going forward.
Not only did Haslam not steamroll his way into making this trade, but the Browns have been investigating the situation for almost 6 months. They hired attorneys, private investigators, security, etc.. and did an extensive investigation including interviewing people close (friends & family) to the women involved. They also went through the entire investigation by Hardin's team with Hardin's team. I'm not sure how much you know about Hardin, but Hardin is a very successful, tenured and wealthy attorney who doesn't need money of fame and is very picky about the cases he takes on. He doesn't take cases he can lose. His team did a very, very intense and extensive investigation into Watson's situation before taking on the case. Dee Haslam and the women in the organization were part of the investigation and all signed off on Watson. Stefanski, Berry and Depodesta were all on board here...it was a complete organizational decision. As far as the contract, it wasn't structured this way simply for Watson. The Browns also structured deals for Hooper, Garrett JJ3, Chubb, Cooper, Teller, Hill, Keenum, Jackson and Walker the same way (minimum in the first year). It's a common structure by Berry that has been misrepresented by the media to be only for Watson and trying to avoid paying him in the case of a suspension...which is simply false. This was an extremely well thought out, calculated move by the organization that involved everybody.
I have not seen the part where the organization interviewed people close to the accusers? Got a link for that?
Premeditated murder can be extremely well-thought out, researched, and approved by multiple people as well. Good for them for doing their homework, but your post reads like it was written by one of Haslam’s attorneys. Your allegiance is blinding you if you think they did all that research to justify the decision morally.
Although I’m flattered that you considered my factual post very well written. You’re analogy is quite the stretch. They went into the research already deciding against the decision and needed to find a reason to say yes. 6 months of thorough vetting helped everybody, including Dee Haslam feel good about Watson. BTW - Do some research on Dee Haslam and get back to me. I know that isn’t what your preconceived notions and opinions believe so it’s too tough to use objectivity and critical thought.
Holy fucking shit. Do you believe that 22 women, some of whom have not filed lawsuits and have nothing to gain, are all lying about Deshaun Watson sexually assaulting them?
Was using an exaggerated comparison to make the point. Don’t feel like debating this so I’ll just say, unless you specifically work for the Browns and were/are in the circle of people that made this decision, then you have no way of knowing what is really factual in your factual post. You’re making your stand based on second-hand info and potential PR narratives. But what do I know, objectivity and critical thinking are too hard for me. And no, I won’t research Dee Haslam. Because I’m not too naive to know that money > morals for billionaires.
Here we go with a number and zero critical thought. "22...so it has to be true." I know the ownership family (in Houston) and I spent 3 years with Watson on the sidelines. So I do know both parties to some extent. I'll leave it at that and you are fee to believe what you want.
For the actual Browns fans: Spoiler The sense I get is….. 53 VIP Back To Topics Posted on 21 hrs, V I P, User Since 18 months ago, User Post Count: 736 21 hrsVIP 18 months 736 I get the sense that a lot of players want to come to Cleveland. I don’t have any names specifically. One league source when I was talking to them about it: “I don’t blame them.”
So you've tried and convicted Watson with zero evidence and no real facts? So little evidence in fact, that the Grand Jury (who brings sexual assault cases with multiple accusers to trial 99% of the time) said there was no basis for even a trial? Which, is a very big deal per multiple DA's that I have spoken with. Interesting. I guess I like to wait, gather evidence and let things play out before I convict folks. But that is the way of our world these days...rush to judge with little information. If indeed the things that he is accused of are true, then obviously we have an issue. However, if they are not, then a lot of people prejudged the man based on headlines and false allegations and they should be ashamed of themselves. Again, you are obviously free to make your own judgements. I will wait for everything to play out before jumping to final conclusions.
This is entering legitimately deranged territory and it’s evident that you have no idea what the fuck you’re talking about.
Thank you for your contributions in the Browns thread. Very fair and informative. Can't wait to see more.
So yes, you believe that 22 women, including those who have nothing to gain monetarily, including those who have produced corroborating evidence, are all lying. Eat shit.
The innocent until proven guilty thoughts kind of lose all credibility when the Browns signed him to a suspension friendly contract.
Out of curiosity what are the reactions the female browns fans have had in your life? My wife was uhh less than thrilled with this move although she begrudgingly said she will still cheer for them
Still discussing it, but it sounds like they won’t do anything until they have a good feel on what Clowney is going to do. The latest indications are that he’s leaning towards coming back.
The Browns also structured deals for Hooper, Garrett JJ3, Chubb, Cooper, Teller, Hill, Keenum, Jackson and Walker the same way (minimum in the first year).
The contract thing is true fwiw. I’m not saying anything about anything else here, just that this wasn’t some “gotcha” move by the FO Hooper: https://www.spotrac.com/nfl/tennessee-titans/austin-hooper-19035/ Garrett: https://www.spotrac.com/nfl/cleveland-browns/myles-garrett-21742/ Cooper: https://www.spotrac.com/nfl/cleveland-browns/amari-cooper-16728/ Chubb: https://www.spotrac.com/nfl/cleveland-browns/nick-chubb-25134/
I’ve seen some articles referencing additional contract language protecting the bonus from a suspension and allowing/requiring further restructuring in the case of a suspension after 2022, but it seems to be sourced from Florio, so I’ll wait to get outraged about that part until it’s confirmed by a non paste eater.
I just assumed that the contract was structured that way to help with salary cap numbers/restrictions. Teams all across the league are turning annual salary numbers into bonuses to help stay under the cap.