Deshaun Watson allegedly offered 100k to the 23 plaintiffs in the civil suits he faces
With a trade to the Dolphins on the table, the QB attempted to facilitate it by getting 23 women to sign NDAs in exchange for 100k. It would appear the plan didn’t work.
Over the course of the last year the Cleveland Browns QB has been in the process of facing up to some 22 civil lawsuits, however, that amount just increased by one with a new suit being filed in Texas this week.
Deshaun Watson offered 100k each to settle 22 lawsuits
According to reports, when yet another civil suit was filed against Browns quarterback Deshaun Watson on Tuesday, it also carried with it a rather intriguing piece of information. Indeed, the case alleged that Watson offered $100,000 to each and every plaintiff as part of his effort to settle the 22 lawsuits that he is facing. It should be said that this was not entirely surprising as it was previously reported that various settlement talks had occurred last season, however, what was not known was how much Watson was offering and to how many of the plaintiffs.
As per reports, the latest lawsuit includes a notation that alludes to the settlement offers. An extract from said notation reads as follows: “We now know that Deshaun Watson offered each Plaintiff $100,000 to settle their cases, but not all would accept that amount, due to the aggressive nondisclosure agreement [NDA] that Watson’s team proposed.” The notation itself was added to the lawsuit by attorney Tony Buzbee who is the legal representative for the 22 plaintiffs mentioned before as well as the most recent individual who has come forward. This recent development of course begs the question, ' why would someone who claims to be innocent, seek to settle?
Deshaun Watson and a chronology of events
Back in January one of the women involved in the case offered up a copy of the NDA that she was offered in October of 2021. In the document it was quite clear that Watson was offering to pay her $100,000 in exchange for her signature. It should be said that it was not clear in the document if the offer was specifically made to her or to other individuals. As per court documents released this week, it would seem that a similar offer was made to all 22 of the women involved in the various lawsuits.
This then leads to the question of ‘why use an NDA?’ According to Watson’s attorney, the only reason that he sought an NDA as a solution to his client’s legal issues, was because the Miami Dolphins who were trying to make a trade for Watson in October last year requested it. The franchise allegedly stated that the only way they would proceed with the deal was if Watson managed to reach a settlement each of the 22 women who had filed lawsuits against him. Ultimately, only 18 of the 22 women agreed to sign which as one can imagine brought an end to the Dolphins interest and in turn eliminated the need for settlement.
Tony Buzbee, Attorney for the 22 plaintiffs weighs in
According to the legal representative for the 22 women, the NDA essentially destroyed the process of settlement talks. After the trade deadline, Buzbee stated that the previously mentioned ‘aggressive NDAs’ brought an end to the deal, “In what was submitted to us, there were nondisclosure agreements and many of the women pushed back on those,” Buzbee said in November. Buzbee went on to call the NDAs a “deal-breaker.” What can we take away from all of this? Deshaun Watson offered $100,000 to each of the 22 plaintiffs in order to green light his move to the Miami Dolphins. That piece of information would in turn indicate that a deal was in fact agreed and was simply pending Watson’s ability to smooth over his legal problems. That’s to say that had all of the women agreed to Watson’s conditions, in all likelihood he would be wearing a Dolphins jersey today.
Where does the NFL stands on Deshaun Watson?
To be clear Watson is still facing 23 individual civil lawsuits. while he confronts that reality the NFL is also in the process of concluding its own independent investigation which it says it will do in the in the near future. Speaking on the situation last month, league commissioner Roger Goodell indicated their findings would be released soon. “I think we’re nearing the end of the investigative period,” Goodell said at the Spring League Meeting on May 24. “Then it will be handled by our disciplinary officer.”