The Panthers get Baker Mayfield for a conditional 2024 5th round pick. That's just crazy, Cleveland must have been desperate to get rid of him.
They just had no leverage whatsoever. They burned their relationship with him so the entire league knew he wasn't going to start. They owed him ~$18m this year so he'd be sitting on the bench or at home consuming a bunch of salary cap. They played him injured last year, which meant his most recent game tapes and stats weren't great. And nobody had a quarterback emergency they needed to fill; no competitive team that desperately needed a plug-and-play guy who could just not lose the game (e.g. 49ers). Seahawks might have been a decent landing spot but I'm not sure they've got a team that's ready to contend for a championship if you stick basic competence under center.
He's better than any of the QB's on the roster by a wide margin. Playing hurt last year made him look a lot worse than he is.
Judge recommends a 6-game suspension for Watson. Fucking ridiculous. Fuck the whole league if that sticks. Fuck the judge, for saying that a moderating consideration in Watson assaulting dozens of women was that it was, "non-violent sexual contact" as if that's means it's okay to hand out a suspension that's 2 games longer than being "generally aware" of deflated footballs.
The whole thing is a joke. I do think the union plays a big role, in that they can exert pressure and say the NFL can't punish an employee without a reasonable cause. If the cases settle, it becomes essentially a private matter. There is a limit to "conduct derogatory to the league" if there were never charges filed. That said, fuck Watson, Houston and Cleveland for not giving more of a shit. How that asshole wound up with a over quarter of a billion dollars in footbaw contracts is fucking unfathomable.
The Dolphins just got spanked by the league for tampering. Losing a first round pick in 2023 and a third round pick in 2024. Ross has a short suspension and is fined 1.5 million. They deserve it, but it makes the Watson ruling look even worse IMO.
https://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id...phen-ross-15m-tampering-tom-brady-sean-payton Gooddell's pearl-clutching would be hysterically funny if it weren't for literally everything else. Brady's bullshit was technically under another CBA, so...(shrugs). The NFL is wildly popular and profitable, yet seems to think it's scandals lose them anything. The more the league and it's players are in the news, the better, and sooner or later it will cost them fans. The Watson case being potentially Cleveland fans, so like...net neutral at worst, but still....
Watson reaches a settlement with the NFL. 11 games and a 5 million dollar fine. Doesn't seem like enough but it's better than the initial ruling by the judge.
It's not even close to enough. It's 2% of his contract in fines, and means he'll get his full $45m next year. Revolting. I'm not one to cheer for injuries. But I'll be looking for NFL headlines, hoping that one of them reads, "Watson in coma after helmet-to-helmet collision."
This is the most Cleveland thing of all time: make somehow going 1-31 not the worst thing you've ever done to your fans, make Houston fans (!) laugh at you, and have the NFL itself appeal a SELF-APPOINTED JUDGE'S DECISION to make the suspension/fine worse, and in the process piss off and shitcan the only QB with playoff win for the Browns in my lifetime. This would be sad if it happened anywhere but Cleveland. I'll bet there's a program to trade browns gear for Ohio State gear plus free needles in Cleveland by November (mirroring it's sister program already experiencing success in Youngstown as we speak).