The speed at which multiple teams began to pursue a trade for Deshaun Watson following getting cleared of nine criminal charges by the Harris County grand jury was amazing. Shortly after that grand jury did not indict the then-Houston Texans quarterback, the Cleveland Browns, along with other teams, were reported to be interested in trading for him.
The rest of the story, so far, is known:
With the speed at which teams showed interest in Watson, it was generally thought that they had an idea of what punishment the NFL would hand down to the quarterback. History gave some idea of what a suspension could look like.
It seems that thought was in error as Ian Rapoport of NFL Network stated that the punishment is very much up in the air. Beyond the length, you’ll hear him say that Watson could be suspended after the season starts:
While the “no games” part of his comment could get the most attention, that Rapoport has no feel for how long or when a suspension could come is the biggest…