“Tom Brady lost $1 million for deflating footballs, but Deshaun Watson will lose only $345,000 for assaulting women?”: Contract loophole allows Browns QB to recover most of his $230 million contract

"Tom Brady lost $1 million for deflating footballs, but Deshaun Watson will lose only $345,000 for assaulting women?": Contract loophole allows Browns QB to recover most of his $230 million contract

The NFL handed down a penalty for Deshaun Watson, and NFL fans are not happy given how the league responded to Tom Brady, Calvin Ridley, and other players.

24 massage therapists came out to lay allegations on Watson that he had sexually assaulted them during sessions. The incidents occurred while Watson was still a Houston Texan.

A grand jury didn’t find enough evidence to lay a punishment on Watson themselves, but the nature of the allegations makes everything murky.

Watson has been criticized beyond measure, and the victims have gone very far in explaining just how poorly they were treated by the quarterback. The NFL launched their own investigation and came back with a six-game suspension. However, in the grand scheme of things, those six games don’t look like much when compared to other punishments the NFL has laid down.

Also Read: Patrick Mahomes and Brittany Matthews handed out icy $9,600 wedding invitation gifts in lieu of Chiefs QB’s $503 million extension

NFL fans are livid comparing NFL punishing Tom Brady and Deshaun Watson

The NFL and Watson can still appeal the suspension. Watson is unlikely to, but Roger Goodell may appeal the decision for a longer sentence and heavier fines.

As it stands right now, Watson isn’t going to lose much money because of the way his contract is structured. He signed a five-year, $230 million fully guaranteed contract with the Browns, but he found a way to structure it cleverly in the case of an extension.

As it stands, the first $44-45 million or so of his contract comes in the form of a signing bonus. That means that Watson’s salary for 2022-23 is only $1.035 million. Therefore, sitting out six games will only cost Watson around $345,000.

When looking at other punishments, that seems a little low. The Patriots were fined $1 million and were docked a first round pick and a fourth round pick while Brady had to serve a four game suspension. That’s only two games less than Watson, and reports later proved that Brady was innocent as the balls deflated due to bad weather.

Fans are not happy at all with the NFL right now.

Also Read: Cam Newton rejected Colin Kaepernick’s $500,000 ex-girlfriend to avoid being in her book of scandalous experiences

Post Edited By: Ashish Priyadarshi
Cleveland Browns Deshaun Watson NFL Tom Brady

About the author

Ashish Priyadarshi

Ashish Priyadarshi is The SportsRush's content manager and editor. Ashish freelanced for 1 year in the NFL division before taking on an editorial role in the company. He then tacked on managing content while adding on a writing role in the NBA division. Ashish has been closely following the NFL and NBA since the 2012 season when the Patriots lost the Super Bowl and Derrick Rose was at the height of his powers. Since then, Ashish has focused on honing his knowledge for both leagues in, even writing crossover pieces. In his free time, Ashish is an avid basketball player, he loves to watch movies and TV shows, immersing himself in the cinematic world. Ashish studies computer science and data science at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and would love to mesh his love for sports with his technical skills.

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