CBS Sports’ Jason La Canfora predicted when Deshaun Watson will return to the field for the Cleveland Browns after serving his impending suspension.
While the Cleveland Browns traded for Deshaun Watson this offseason, do not expect for the former Houston Texans starter and Clemson legend to play right away, as he will have to serve a suspension first.
Everybody and their brother knows Watson will be suspended by the NFL at some point this upcoming season. He may have sat out his final year in Houston, but Cleveland is fully anticipating for him to miss significant time. How do we know this? Well, they signed a top-tier backup in free agency, still have not moved off Baker Mayfield and structured Watson’s new contract accordingly.
CBS Sports’ Jason La Canfora believes Watson will play fewer than eight games this NFL season.
NFL insider projects how long Browns QB Deshaun Watson will be suspended for
La Canfora does not believe a decision on how long Watson will be suspended will come until right up before the season starts. He expects the NFL to be on the cautious side of things here by levying a harsher punishment, rather than opening itself up for criticism by not taking it seriously. Interestingly, he does not think Watson will be out for the entire football season either.
The league is fortunate to see what transpired on the diamond when it comes to Trevor Bauer. He has been suspended by MLB for two full seasons, in addition to missing half of last campaign for domestic violence. Watson being held out all of last year will likely be factored into the equation, but there is no reason to think he will play in most of the games for this upcoming football season.
Ultimately, Watson being suspended for less than half of the year will be a terrible look for the NFL. Then again, suspending him for the entire season in addition to missing all of last year could be seen as harsh, especially if he is acquitted of all charges on the criminal side of things. As far as him missing eight or nine games, that is probably more in line with what the NFL is thinking here.
La Canfora went out on a limb to say it will be at least a nine-game suspension, so we will see.