It is clear that the Cleveland Browns acquisition of Deshaun Watson is the biggest story of the team’s offseason and, likely, the next five to ten years. It may not be hyperbole that the Watson trade was the most significant move in the entire offseason, especially when considering the 22 civil cases and the impact on former top overall pick Baker Mayfield.
While Watson’s civil cases may drag on for another year, his lawyer, Rusty Hardin, believes that the NFL will want to conclude its investigation this summer.
With the NFL meeting with Watson recently, Hardin decided to go on a podcast to discuss the case. A seemingly unusual act, Hardin joined “Between the Lines: A podcast about sports and the law” and answered many questions about the case.
For those who may not have time to listen to the entire podcast, we spent time transcribing some of the most important and most interesting quotes from Hardin while trying to keep each in context. For full context, we encourage you to listen to the podcast yourself as linked above.
It is important to remember that the below quotes are from Watson’s side of things and Hardin has a unique interest in presenting things in a way that puts his client in a good light and the opposing legal counsel in a negative one: