What Is the Browns’ Schedule During and After Deshaun Watson’s Suspension?
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Editor’s note: This story contains accounts of sexual assault. If you or someone you know is a survivor of sexual assault, contact the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-656-4673 or at https://www.rainn.org
The NFL and the NFLPA reached a settlement on the punishment for Browns quarterback Deshaun Watson on Thursday. Cleveland’s quarterback will be suspended for the first 11 games of the upcoming season. Here’s who Cleveland will face while Watson serves his suspension:
Sept. 11 at Panthers
Sept. 18 vs. Jets
Sept. 22 vs. Steelers
Oct. 2 at Falcons
Oct. 9 vs Chargers
Oct. 16 vs. Patriots
Oct. 23 at Ravens
Oct. 31 vs. Bengals
Nov. 13 at Dolphins
Nov. 20 at Bills
Nov. 27 vs. Buccaneers
Four of the Browns’ first 11 games are against 2021 playoff teams and seven of them are home games. After it all shakes out, four of Watson’s six eligible games of the 2022 season will take place on the road. Here’s how Cleveland’s schedule looks after Watson’s suspension:
Dec. 4 at Texans
Dec. 11 at Bengals
Date TBD vs. Ravens
Dec. 24 vs. Saints
Jan. 1 at Commanders
TBD at Steelers
Watson’s first game in a Browns uniform is slated to be against the Texans, his former team, in Houston. Cleveland’s 2022 regular season ends with a road game at Pittsburgh in Week 18.
Watson’s suspension follows a league investigation after more than two dozen women detailed graphic accounts of sexual harassment and assault by Watson during massage therapy sessions. The accounts range from Watson refusing to cover his genitals to the quarterback “touching [a plaintiff] with his penis and trying to force her to perform oral sex on him.”
Beginning in March 2021, 25 women filed lawsuits against Watson. One plaintiff dropped her case due to privacy concerns, but the other two dozen remained active until June ’22, when 20 settlements were reached. Watson reportedly settled three of the remaining four lawsuits ahead of a Aug. 1 ruling by Sue L. Robinson, a disciplinary officer appointed by the NFL and players union, who ruled Watson should be suspended for six games. That decision was appealed by the NFL.
Watson has denied wrongdoing, and two Texas grand juries declined to indict him on criminal charges this spring. He publicly apologized—without admitting to any specific offenses—for the first time last week prior to Cleveland’s preseason game at Jacksonville.
