The strategic leaking of stuff that makes you wonder, are they trying to get out from under the contract … it’s pretty gross.”
Yet another allegation came down this week against Cleveland Browns quarterback Deshaun Watson, as a plaintiff using the Jane Doe pseudonym accused Watson in a lawsuit of sexually assaulting her in October 2020.
While the accusations reveal a potentially more dire track record for Watson and call his future in the NFL into question, veteran sports talk host Dan Le Batard believes the Browns themselves may have been the ones who planted this story in the media.
After producer Mike Ryan suggested that listeners take a closer look at the reporters who are breaking news on Cleveland’s reaction to the latest Watson lawsuit, Le Batard agreed that they have a vested financial interest in cutting away their massive mistake.
“The number of people who will defend this behavior if they think their quarterback is good, and then the strategic leaking of stuff that makes you wonder, are they trying to get out from under the contract … it’s pretty gross,” Le Batard said.
The Browns gave Watson a fully guaranteed five-year, $230 million contract in 2022 after trading for him amid the first NFL investigation into his alleged criminal conduct. Watson served an 11-game suspension in 2022 before a shoulder injury stole most of his 2023 season.
“The finances of this [are] so cold and awful that you’re now like, oh the Browns are going to try and see if they can sneak away from everything there when they shouldn’t be able to,” Le Batard said.
Both law enforcement and the NFL’s response to the latest allegations against Watson as well as the Browns’ handling of the punishment are stories here. The difference between all those parties is that Cleveland chose to trade for Watson and give him a guaranteed mega-deal.
Ryan emphasized that people should look clearly at who is reporting “the spin on how to get out from under this contract” and how tied reporters covering the Browns’ approach to the situation “might be to people in Cleveland’s front office.”
It’s too soon to speculate which NFL reporters are on which side of the sourcing on this lawsuit. But it’s certainly hard to have sympathy for Cleveland dealing with the mess it made itself, and any coverage that paints the Browns as victims is sure to be met with significant scrutiny.
