Watson to Cleveland

djbayko

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Dammit. I was really looking forward to following the disaster of a situation the Browns had created for themselves. I guess they must have decided to make a Godfather offer since they knew they were otherwise screwed.
 

joe dokes

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Dammit. I was really looking forward to following the disaster of a situation the Browns had created for themselves. I guess they must have decided to make a Godfather offer since they knew they were otherwise screwed.
I'm never going to underestimate the potential of the Haslam-stink factor. The past tense in the quoted post is far from waranted.
 
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Red Averages

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Wow $230mm fully guaranteed after all of these allegations. I’m actually nauseous.
 

djbayko

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Wow $230mm fully guaranteed after all of these allegations. I’m actually nauseous.
Seriously. Can you imagine being a Browns fan? How do you root for this guy? In a sane world, Watson would have been blackballed with no collusion - just every team individually deciding that he's not worth it.
 

DeadlySplitter

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The Browns kind of have everything but a quarterback.
The Falcons seem to have better offensive pieces than the Browns, Saints a better defensive pieces than the Browns. *shrug* Maybe he thought it over and nope, not competing with TB12 twice a year.

Fully guaranteed is a shocker and a laugh, but as soon as the allegations cleared legally he was always getting the bank. This is the NFL and they think people will forget.
 

ThePrideofShiner

Crests prematurely
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I guess as a Seahawks fan I'd rather have Baker Mayfield than Matt Ryan, so this is welcome news. Of course, if the Colts trade for Mayfield instead then it sucks.
 

AlNipper49

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I’m assuming that Mayfield is going in the other direction. Not a bad move for Houston’s QB situation - they either get good Mayfield, have a decent backup if he totally flops or are positioned to draft one next year and. It have to take on a Mayfield new contract.
 

DeadlySplitter

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DJnVa

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Mayfield probably needs to grow up but the Browns look awful in their statements about him the last week or so.
 

Bob Montgomerys Helmet Hat

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Seriously. Can you imagine being a Browns fan? How do you root for this guy? In a sane world, Watson would have been blackballed with no collusion - just every team individually deciding that he's not worth it.
I've heard from a couple of Browns fans I work with and their initial reaction seems to be conflicted. They acknowledge that he's a scumbag, but they're thrilled to be done with Baker and they're starved for wins.
 

E5 Yaz

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Arthur Blank should have stayed in his office and resisted the urge to head down early to the media room
 

sodenj5

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I've heard from a couple of Browns fans I work with and their initial reaction seems to be conflicted. They acknowledge that he's a scumbag, but they're thrilled to be done with Baker and they're starved for wins.
Classic prisoner’s dilemma.

Beyond thrilled that Watson won’t be playing for Miami and the AFC North has filled their quota of sexual predators after Big Ben retired.
 

BigSoxFan

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AFC QBs

Mahomes
Allen
Wilson
Lamar
Herbert
Burrow
Watson

Hope Mac enjoyed his Pro Bowl experience this year...
 

Oil Can Dan

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It's always about the money. I suspect Watson chose the team that gave him the most money at the best terms. I bet the fully guaranteed part is something that separated Cleveland from NO/Atl.
 

Gash Prex

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So the Browns are good with guaranteeing 230 million with the 20 ish civil sexual assault claims pending? And having him on their team? Just awful
 

radsoxfan

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He’s gonna need the $ with all the lawsuits and legal bills, probably just went to the highest bidder.

Given the cap implications and huge draft cost, Watson is going to have to be MVP-level good for multiple years for this to work out.

Not impossible, but also don’t think I’d bet on the Browns decision here either.

They just treated this situation as if Watson is Prime Rodgers/Mahomes with zero baggage based on what they gave up.
 

Morgan's Magic Snowplow

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Its pretty amazing that this is how the whole saga ended, although completely in line with how the NFL operates. Take a year to pretend that you care about sexual assault while also letting the news cycle move on, then everybody - the Texans, Watson himself - gets PAID.
 

Cellar-Door

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I assume he takes the signing bonus money and makes another run at settling all the civil suits right?
Then eats the suspension that follows so the Browns can plan around it.
 

JM3

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I'm sure the 100% guaranteed isn't actually 100% guaranteed & has clauses for misconduct/suspension etc.

Interested to see if the trade package is conditional on length of suspension, though. Like the 3rd 1st converts to a 2nd if 4-6 game suspension, 3rd for an 7-12 game & 4th for whole season.
 

djbayko

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I've heard from a couple of Browns fans I work with and their initial reaction seems to be conflicted. They acknowledge that he's a scumbag, but they're thrilled to be done with Baker and they're starved for wins.
Browns fans on Reddit are unanimously sickened by it and many saying "I'm out." Of course, there's gotta be some intense selection bias going on there. I doubt Browns fans who like the deal are going to boast about it publicly.
 

KiltedFool

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Yeah reminiscent of my discomfort with Roethlisberger over the years. Even the mildest version of the accusations meant that the QB for my team was a douche rocket. Not an easy thing.
 

Ale Xander

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Just awful. What a tone deaf organization.

This team deserves to be relocated to Baltimore
 

DeadlySplitter

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Because presumably the Browns were eliminated yesterday and had to go over the top.
Now I'm reading Watson really liked the Browns, yet they were the first to be eliminated per reporting. Wondering if Watson's camp played all these teams like a fiddle, extracting the most they could from Cleveland, who he had picked all along.

And now the lovable loser Browns are no more, bit of a sad moment from a neutral fan's standpoint.
 

Oil Can Dan

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I would absolutely not want this to have happened if I were a Browns fan. You have a guy in Mayfield that 100% embraced Cleveland, played hurt, led them to their first playoff win since freakin Kosar, and you absolutely shit all over him and bring in this scumbag who had literally crossed Cleveland off his little list like three days ago. I know how it goes and once the games start these things fade away but would seriously not attend a single game or do a single thing to put money in their pockets until at least Watson is gone, and maybe not even then.