The ruling landed in the Deshaun Watson serial sexual assault case. The Browns QB will be suspended for 11 games, fined $5M, and mandated to undergo behavioral therapy. Jenny Vrentas and Ken Belson of the NYT note the fine sets a “record.” Less impressive when viewed next to the $230M contract Watson was awarded by the Browns, which set its own record as the highest guaranteed dollar value in an NFL contract to date.

All of this in spite of the NFL going on record that it was seeking to put the QB on indefinite suspension – a year for starters – with his return contingent on jumping through a number of make-it-right PR exercises yet to be determined.

How did we get here? Watson was benched by his former team Houston Texans for the entire 21-22 season while the fallout from the 20+ allegations of sexual assault was coming into focus. It was clear the Texans wanted to move on. 

And many teams came calling for the troubled QB’s services. Despite the NFL making noise about transforming itself into an organization that’s less hostile to women, there was no shortage of bids. NFL observers are a cynical breed. But few were prepared for the $230M fully-guaranteed ticket out of town that Watson received from a lost Browns organization. Contract analysts noted that the structure of Watson’s contract – guaranteed, backloaded, with a piddling salary in the first year – was expressly designed to nullify attempts to impose meaningful financial penalties on the QB.

Keep in mind though that the ultimate say in the matter falls to the NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell. The NFLPA won many concessions in the recent collective bargaining agreement, but the commissioner retains final say in disciplinary matters.

Regardless, the NFL brought in independent arbitrator Sue Robinson, in accordance with the new procedure, to look at the case and recommend an outcome. 

The arbitrator came to the only conclusion that a fair legal observer basing judgements on precedent could make. Namely, that the NFL has such an awful track record in disciplining violence against women that it can’t fairly throw the book at Watson just because the organization realizes the current ideological climate demands it. So Robinson recommended 6 games and left the NFL to sit on their thumbs until Goodell decided to hand out the penalty he already said he wanted to hand, and which he has full and total authority to hand out.

Naturally, Goodell backed down. Despite having all the authority he needs to suspend Watson for the year, the NFL and Watson reached a “settlement” of 11 games and $5M. The NYT phrases it as such:

The penalties were the result of a settlement between Watson’s representatives from his legal team and the players’ union, and the N.F.L.

Settlements are the sort of deals struck between two parties when each side has some leverage. Theoretically, Watson has no leverage in this situation because the collective bargaining agreement grants the NFL commissioner full authority to rule how he sees fit. 

But what the Watson camp knows, and the NFL doesn’t want to say, is that OF COURSE the quarterback has leverage. He’s famous, talented, and will sell tickets and merchandise. The NFL is a business, not an ethics tribunal. The league wants a young, talented QB in his prime on the field and it will find a way to make it happen, sexual assaults be damned.

The NFL only wanted one thing in return for getting Watson back on the field earlier than the full year suspension: an ounce of contrition from Watson, owning up to his mistakes. And it didn’t happen. The Browns QB let out a mighty belly laugh from atop his $230M mountain of guaranteed money and told the league to go fuck itself. And the league went and fucked itself. Goodell, first and foremost, because he is primarily paid to eat PR shit, though it’s usually a result of owner decisions rather than the players. 

The NFLPA might call that progress, and maybe it is in a weird way for player’s rights. But for women it’s a big zero on the scoreboard.