Deshaun Watson tried to settle with all accusers to facilitate trade to 1 team
Mar 25, 2022; Berea, OH, USA; Cleveland Browns quarterback Deshaun Watson talks with the media during a press conference at the CrossCountry Mortgage Campus. Mandatory Credit: Ken Blaze-USA TODAY Sports
Deshaun Watson has maintained his innocence in the wake of nearly two dozen women accusing him of sexual assault, and some of the civil lawsuits that were filed against the star quarterback could be headed to trial. At one point, however, Watson made an attempt to settle all of them.
The Miami Dolphins were one of the teams that explored a trade for Watson prior to the deadline last season. There were reports that they were willing to meet the Houston Texans’ asking price as long as Watson settled with all of his accusers, of which there were 22 at the time. That did not happen.
Watson’s attorney, Rusty Hardin, told SportsRadio 610’s Sean Pendergast and Seth Payne on Friday that Watson, who had a full no-trade clause, wanted to play for the Dolphins. However, only 20 of the 22 alleged victims agreed to settle.
Hardin says Deshaun Watson told him he wanted to go to Miami. However, only 20 of the 22 cases were settled and Miami owner Stephen Ross didn't want the deal.
— Landry Locker (@LandryLocker) June 3, 2022
Hardin says Deshaun has always wanted to get this behind him, but doesn't want it to just look like some kind of settlement. Says they agreed on everything except a confidentiality agreement and Buzbee didn't want it public because he didn't want people to know how low $ was.
— Landry Locker (@LandryLocker) June 3, 2022
Payne followed up by asking why the 20 of 22 cases were not settled in the end. Hardin said the only reason Watson was going to settle was to facilitate a trade to Miami.
Really good follow-up by @SethCPayne on why not settle the 20 of the 22? Hardin says that the whole idea of a settlement was based on playing in Miami.
— Landry Locker (@LandryLocker) June 3, 2022
Tony Buzbee, the attorney who represents all of the women who are suing Watson, said last year that the Dolphins wanted at least one accuser to sign a non-disclosure agreement. Hardin claims Buzbee did not want any confidentiality agreements, either, because Buzbee did not want the public knowing the financial terms of the settlements.
We recently got a better idea of how much money Watson offered each of the women.
If Hardin is telling the truth, Watson must have really wanted to play in Miami.
