Tag: Deshaun Watson lawsuit

Report: 30 women alleging misconduct against Deshaun Watson settle claims with Houston Texans

The Houston Texans have settled claims with 30 women who alleged sexual misconduct against Cleveland Browns QB Deshaun Watson.

The Houston Texans have settled with all of the women who made or intended to make claims against the organization for its alleged role in the reported sexual misconduct of former quarterback Deshaun Watson.

According to KPRC-TV, the Texans have settled with 30 women represented by Houston attorney Tony Buzbee. Terms of the settlements are confidential.

Buzbee released a statement following the announcement of the settlement on Friday:

“I will have no further comment on the allegations or the Texans’ role, other than to say that there is a marked contrast in the way in which the Texans addressed these allegations, and the way in which Watson’s team has done so. As previously reported, only one of the 30 women who made allegations against the Texans filed a formal lawsuit. That particular lawsuit will be dismissed with prejudice as soon as the appropriate settlement paperwork is complete.

“It takes an incredible amount of fortitude for a victim of sexual misconduct to come forward. It is even more difficult when the alleged wrongdoer is famous, rich, and powerful. As I’ve said before, these cases started with one phone call, from one brave and strong woman: Ashley Solis. Because of her willingness to speak out, soon others followed. I admire Ashley Solis and the other woman who were courageous enough to make their voices heard. I hope their bravery serves as an example to others who have been subjected to similar conduct. Every story has a hero – in this story, that hero is Ashley Solis and the other woman who, despite the ridicule, criticism, and vitriol directed at them, endured.

“The four filed cases against Deshaun Watson will continue. We hope to try them all in the spring of next year. In the meantime, we will continue to do the important work to prepare for such.”

A Harris County grand jury declined to indict Watson on criminal charges related to the allegations, as did a Brazoria County grand jury. The complaints against Watson have been ongoing since March 17, 2021, when Buzbee first made comments on social media about the incidents. The civil suits have resulted in complaints to the Houston Police Department, an investigation by the FBI, and an ongoing investigation by the NFL. There were also warrants issued for Watson’s social media accounts.

The Texans traded Watson to the Cleveland Browns in mid-March 2022.

How the Texans could make a playoff push and score a top-10 draft pick in 2022

The Houston Texans are in a unique position to contend for a playoff spot and get a top-10 draft pick, pending certain circumstances fall their way.

The Houston Texans have stacked four-win seasons the past two years, and are on their third coach since 2020. Talks of playoffs seem preposterous. However, discussion about getting a top-10 pick at the end of the 2022 campaign aren’t far fetched.

What if the Texans were able to contend for a playoff spot and also score a top-10 pick?

According to Tyler Sullivan from CBS Sports, who put together five teams that are eligible to take a step back this season, the Cleveland Browns and Tennessee Titans made the list. The Browns sent their first-round picks from 2022-24 to the Texans for their quarterback. Disciplinary issues surrounding Cleveland’s presumed starter, coupled with the trade of Baker Mayfield to the Carolina Panthers, has led to the possibility Jacoby Brisset is under center for the Browns. Throw in the typical travails of a season, and the Browns may not be able to weather the storm.

That takes care of the top-10 pick aspect.

If the Titans were to drop off in 2022, it would be due to the play from their starting quarterback, according to Sullivan.

This could prove to be a pivotal year for the Titans, especially at quarterback. Despite leading his team to a 12-5 record, Ryan Tannehill took a step back in 2021. His passer rating was the lowest it’s been since he arrived in Nashville and his 14 interceptions during the regular season were the most in his Titans tenure and second-most of his career. Those turnovers issues also reared their head in Tennessee’s one-and-done appearance in the playoffs as he threw three interceptions in the club’s 19-16 loss to the Bengals in the divisional round. 

If Tannehill struggles again this season, the Titans do have an out in his contract next offseason where they could clear just under $20 million in cap space. Tennessee also drafted former Liberty quarterback Malik Willis in the third round, stoking even more fuel to the flames of Tannehill entering a make-or-break season. 

If the Texans are able to retain their dominance over the Jacksonville Jaguars while sweeping Tennessee for the first time since 2015, that matches their win total over the past two seasons. If Houston is able to come up with four to five more wins, that will put them in the running for the third and final wild-card spot. If nothing else, the last few weeks of the regular season ought to be more interesting than they have been.

The most important element is ultimately in Houston. The Texans have to be stepping forward while these two teams are stepping back.

How Jacoby Brissett can gift the Texans a top-10 draft pick

The Cleveland Browns traded a proven QB. A suspension could throw Jacoby Brissett into the fray, which might net the Houston Texans a top-10 pick.

The entire NFL world is waiting on a suspension decision for Cleveland Browns quarterback Deshaun Watson.

However, on Wednesday afternoon, everyone received word of the other news people had been anticipating from Cleveland.

Baker Mayfield was finally traded.

The deal allowed Cleveland to finally move off their former franchise quarterback and first overall draft pick in 2018 after a public, messy divorce. The Browns received a 2024 conditional fifth-round pick from the Carolina Panthers in exchange for Mayfield’s services. It is strongly expected that Mayfield will open the year in Charlotte as the starter against his old team in Week 1.

In Houston, this move signified one prevailing sentiment to the franchise: Cleveland’s 2023 first-round pick has a ton of potential.

Cleveland’s backup situation rests in the hands of a very capable, although limited, starter in Jacoby Brissett, a player that Houston fans are very familiar with from his victory over the team as New England’s backup quarterback in 2016, his tenure in Indianapolis as a starter, and an ugly game serving as the Miami Dolphins’ starting quarterback last season.

Regardless of his success in New England or his struggles in Indianapolis, his limited ceiling is undeniable. Last year in five starts with Miami, Brissett threw for five touchdowns and four interceptions. His last full year as a starter was with the Indianapolis Colts in 2019 and they went 7-8 in his 15 games en route to missing the playoffs.

Brissett is a career 60% completion passer with a 2-1 touchdown to interception ratio. The kind of quarterback that most certainly belongs in the league but ideally isn’t starting for your team. He now has the potential to dictate the location of one of Houston’s two first-round picks next year.

Should Watson be suspended for the entire season, Cleveland will be hard pressed to find an upgrade this season over Brissett. He’ll have the luxury of playing with one of the most talented rosters in football but there are reasons for concerns even then.

The Browns are set to play one of the toughest divisions in football in 2022. The Cincinnati Bengals are coming off a Super Bowl appearance and have done a great job maintaining their roster. The Baltimore Ravens are almost certain to have better injury luck than in 2021 and have historically been dominant with Lamar Jackson under center. Finally, considered the weakest of the group, the Pittsburgh Steelers have never had a losing season under head coach Mike Tomlin and just upgraded at quarterback and offensive line.

Their out-of-division schedule features the Buffalo Bills, Los Angeles Chargers, New Orleans Saints, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and the always-difficult Patriots. Every bottom feeder they are allowed to play respective in the NFC South and AFC East on the schedule will be canceled out by one of the NFL’s Super Bowl contenders.

Meanwhile, in-house, there are legitimate concerns about the Cleveland wide receiver group. Amari Cooper was brought in from the Dallas Cowboys and will serve as the only receiver on the roster with proven NFL production. Behind him, Donovan Peoples-Jones and rookie David Bell will be asked to produce in shootouts for the Browns. It’s a group that is much more difficult to project success for without the arm of Watson.

Altogether, this becomes a season for Cleveland that is immensely difficult to project the wins you’d anticipate with their talent level. They’ll be at a talent deficiency at the quarterback position in every game beyond their contest with the Atlanta Falcons.

It is very possible that Cleveland misses the mark this season and is picking closer to the top-10 than in the 20s. Last season they gave Houston the 13th overall pick and may now have proceeded to downgrade at quarterback while the division improved.

The Texans likely have a high pick this year while their young players go through the growing pains of adjusting to the NFL level. A second high pick for Houston could be franchise-altering in terms of accelerating the rebuild and acquiring more elite talent for head coach Lovie Smith to deploy.

Make no mistake, the Baker Mayfield departure is meaningful for Houston. All eyes now turn to Sue Robinson to see if this Cleveland nightmare scenario comes to fruition.

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Mike Meltser breaks down Texans being named as defendants in lawsuit related to Deshaun Watson

On Sports Radio 610, attorney Mike Meltser explained the Houston Texans’ involvement as defendants in the latest Deshaun Watson lawsuit.

For Houston Texans fans, the lawsuits involving quarterback Deshaun Watson wherein multiple women have accused him of sexual assault became the Cleveland Browns’ problem after the trade.

However, attorney Tony Buzbee, who is representing all of the plaintiffs in the civil suits, filed a civil suit naming the Texans as plaintiffs in Harris County district court on Monday.

In a statement from the Texans via Aaron Wilson from the Pro Football Network, the club says, “We are aware of the lawsuit filed against us today. since March 2021, we have fully supported and complied with law enforcement and the various investigations. We will continue to take the necessary steps to address the allegations against our organization.”

Attorney Mike Meltser, a sports radio host for SiriusXM’s Mad Dog Radio, joined “In The Loop” on Sports Radio 610 [KILT-AM] Monday to talk about the implications of what the Texans’ involvement in the lawsuit as defendants could mean.

Here is a transcript of John Lopez and Landry Locker’s interview with Meltser.

Deshaun Watson accuser names Houston Texans in new lawsuit

The Houston Texans have been named as defendants in a lawsuit related to the Deshaun Watson civil case wherein the QB is accused of sexual assault.

The Houston Texans have been named as defendants in a new lawsuit from a Deshaun Watson accuser.

On Monday, lawyer Tony Buzbee, who has represented all of Watson’s accusers since March 2021, announced his legal team had filed a lawsuit in Harris County district court naming Houston NFL Holdings as defendants in a civil suit related to the sexual assault lawsuits filed against Watson.

“Today we filed the first case of what will likely be many against the Houston Texans related to Deshaun Watson’s behavior,” the statement read via the Pro Football Network’s Aaron Wilson. “Suffice to say, the overwhelming evidence collected indicating that the Houston Texans enabled Watson’s behavior is incredibly damning. We believe the Texans knew or most certainly should have known of Watson’s conduct. Beyond that, we believe the filing speaks for itself.”

Watson is set to have a disciplinary hearing with the NFL on June 28.

Nick Caserio jokes only a cyber attack could void the Texans’ trading of QB Deshaun Watson

Houston Texans general manager Nick Caserio reiterated the Deshaun Watson trade is final, but joked about how it could possibly be voided.

The Cleveland Browns might want take-backs on the Deshaun Watson trade.

The three-time Pro Bowl quarterback remains embroiled in a civil lawsuit wherein 24 women accuse him of committing sexual assault. The number may increase, according to the plaintiffs’ lawyer, Tony Buzbee. The NFL is reportedly seeking a “significant” suspension of Watson.

As the Browns languish due to Watson’s availability issues, the Texans still have the Browns’ first-round picks through 2024 as part of the haul from trading Watson.

However, the trade is final, according to general manager Nick Caserio.

“Maybe you call [Roger] Goodell and ask him,” Caserio told “Payne & Pendergast” on Sports Radio 610 [KILT-AM] on June 16. “Any trade — forget about this particular one — any trade that takes place, so, there is a process that you have to go through, the teams agree on that, and then once you agree on that it gets submitted to the league, the transaction gets processed, and then it goes on file with the league.”

Caserio joked about scenarios that could possibly void the trade.

“Unless there is somebody that is going to go in there overnight in a mask and try to get on a computer and may have a cyber attack or something like that, not sure there’s anything that can be done there,” Caserio said. “So, no different than a draft day trade, even though it kind of happens more in real time. You have an agreement in place, okay, you contact the league. We have a trade. We have agreement. You sign the paperwork along, and everyone goes along their merry way.

“So, unless I’m missing something, or unless Seth [Payne] calls Goodell and asks him for his interpretation and opinion, I would say that whatever trades have happened have happened. They’re in the past, and now we’re just focused on training camp and moving forward with the team.”

If the trade could be voided in any way, it would be fascinating to see how the league handled it, given that Houston used Cleveland’s No. 13 overall pick in the 2022 NFL draft to acquire the Philadelphia Eagles’ No. 15 pick to take Texas A&M guard Kenyon Green. The Eagles used that pick to take Georgia defensive tackle Jordan Davis.

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CBS Sports says trading QB Deshaun Watson was the Texans’ best offseason move

The Houston Texans’ best move of the 2022 offseason was the trading of QB Deshaun Watson to the Cleveland Browns, according to CBS Sports.

The Houston Texans’ offseason moves really didn’t get started until the 2022 NFL draft. During free agency, the Texans added solid veterans from outside the organization such as guard A.J. Cann and cornerback Steven Nelson. Houston also kept reliable starters such as defensive tackle Maliek Collins and even reworked receiver Brandin Cooks’ contract.

In the draft, the building blocks for the future were acquired with the selections of first-round cornerback Derek Stingley, guard Kenyon Green, second-round safety Jalen Pitre, receiver John Metchie, and fourth-round running back Dameon Pierce.

According to Cody Benjamin from CBS Sports, the best move the Texans made in the offseason was actually a trade when they shipped quarterback Deshaun Watson to the Cleveland Browns.

They’ve made a lot of questionable decisions (letting Davis Mills go unchallenged at QB? making Lovie Smith the latest placeholder atop the staff? signing/re-signing a bunch of free-agent leftovers again?), but dealing Watson was inevitable. The fact they offloaded his big contract and off-field baggage for three first-rounders and more? They’re at least set up to rebuild.

General manager Nick Caserio told reporters on March 19 that the ability to pull off the trade wasn’t as simple as finding a willing trade partner; it had to be a situation Watson would want to go to.

“I think the impetus for getting teams to the table when you have a situation like that was there’s X number of teams that there would have been interest in potentially waiving that clause for, so in order to get those teams to the table we had a certain threshold of what it would take to get to that point for those initial discussions to take place,” said Caserio. “From there, you have to work through the trade compensation and whatever the compensation is that you feel makes the most sense. I think you have to be thoughtful and you have to take the information, process it and try to make the best decision at that time so that’s why we went ahead and did what we did.”

The Texans aren’t just setup to rebuild; they are setup to put the final touches on a roster that could be competing for a playoff spot in 2024. They also have the capital to build packages to acquire Pro Bowl and All-Pro talent, and Houston will also have the salary cap space to do so in 2023.

Dealing Watson provided Houston the opportunity to start over and cultivate a new identity for the franchise. The move also allowed Watson to go to a new NFL city and hit the reset button — although Watson’s legal entanglements may keep the two parties linked for a while longer.

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Texans to be named as defendants in Browns QB Deshaun Watson lawsuit

The Houston Texans may soon be added as a defendant in the Deshaun Watson lawsuit according to the plaintiffs’ attorney, Tony Buzbee.

The Houston Texans may have traded Deshaun Watson to the Cleveland Browns prior to the 2022 NFL draft, but they could still be involved in the embroiled quarterback’s legal troubles.

According to a statement via Aaron Wilson from Tony Buzbee, who is representing 24 women suing Watson civilly on sexual assault allegations, the Texans may be added to the lawsuit as defendants.

“Based on what we have learned from the Houston Police Department, we will soon be joining the Houston Texans organization and others as defendants in the ongoing lawsuits against Deshaun Watson. Our team has thoroughly vetted each case. We are considering many others. These women are the true heroes in this sordid story. What has become clear is that the Houston Texans organization and their contacting ‘massage therapy company’ facilitated Deshaun Watson’s conduct. In many of these cases, the Texans provided the opportunity for this conduct to occur. We believe the Texans organization was well aware of Watson’s issues, but failed to act. They knew or certainly should have known. The Houston Texans organization provided rooms for Watson at the high-end Houstonian hotel for his ‘massages’; the Texans also provided massage tables and other support for Watson’s proclivities — ostensibly to protect their ‘asset.’ We intend to make sure all involved in Watson’s conduct are held accountable, in addition to and including Watson himself.”

A Harris County grand jury declined to indict Watson on criminal charges related to the allegations, as did a Brazoria County grand jury. The complaints against Watson have been ongoing since March 17, 2021, when Buzbee first made comments on social media about the incidents. The civil suits have resulted in complaints to the Houston Police Department, an investigation by the FBI, and an ongoing investigation by the NFL. There were also warrants issued for Watson’s social media accounts.

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Legend-Wary: Deshaun Watson leaves the Houston Texans in disgrace

The Houston Texans and Deshaun Watson divorce is complete. The three-time Pro Bowler moves on to a new NFL city, but the hurt feelings remain.

Deshaun Watson said winning a Super Bowl was a “top priority” as he attempted to pull off football’s triple crown: state championship, national championship, and a Super Bowl.

“I’m trying to, of course, be legendary,” Watson told reporters on Aug. 21, 2020. “That’s my word since college and for me to be that I have to win a Super Bowl and definitely win it with the Houston Texans. We’ve never won one here before and we haven’t even come on the brink of winning one. We’ve got to get to that game before that, and then of course we can think about that. But, yeah, I’m trying to create history and continue that and make it a dynasty.”

It’s just been a year and a half since Watson said these words to the Houston media in regard to his expectations for the Texans, his own performance, and his legacy as a quarterback.

Life comes at you fast, people change, and apparently legendary can also mean winning a Super Bowl with the Cleveland Browns.

Much will be written in the coming weeks about how the Watson trade will shape the future of the Texans, the Browns and the NFL landscape at large. Such is the nature of a trade involving a polarizing, top-10 quarterback and so many future draft picks. Winners will be declared, and many will speculate on the future success of both Watson and the Texans’ return package.

There will certainly be much scrutiny regarding the merits of Cleveland acquiring a controversial player like Watson. Ditto that for criticism of a star player with numerous off-the-field accusation forcing himself out of Houston in a high-profile trade. The situation is the definition of a mess and for onlookers it appears as the pinnacle of Houston’s dysfunction.

However, in the meantime, there’s only hurt left in Houston. For a player that truly represented the first “franchise quarterback” in Texans history, there’s no feeling other than absolute shock at losing the 26-year-old rising star. Watson has felt long gone for many fans after the absolute saga of the 2021 campaign.

Report: Texans QB Deshaun Watson met with ‘top people’ from the Saints, Panthers

Houston Texans quarterback Deshaun Watson has completed meetings with the New Orleans Saints and Carolina Panthers.

Deshaun Watson has already met power players within the Carolina Panthers and New Orleans Saints as the Houston Texans quarterback seeks a new franchise to continue his NFL career.

According to Aaron Wilson from the Pro Football Network, Watson met with “top people” from the Saints and Panthers on Monday night in virtual meetings. The Panthers had owner David Tepper and coach Matt Rhule on their call while the Saints had general manager Mickey Loomis and new coach Dennis Allen.

Watson’s meetings with the clubs were virtual as the three-time Pro Bowler is preparing for his March 15 deposition in a civil lawsuit wherein 22 women allege he committed sexual assault. On March 11, a Harris County grand jury declined to indict Watson based on similar criminal complaints filed with the Houston Police Department. The NFL is also conducting its own investigation into the civil lawsuit complaints to determine if Watson violated the league’s personal conduct policy.

The former 2017 first-round pick from Clemson requested a trade from the Texans in January 2021 after the club hired general manager Nick Caserio and then-coach David Culley. Houston went 4-13 with Culley and fired him at the end of the season, and promoted defensive coordinator Lovie Smith to fill the vacancy.