The NFL is now investigating a new legal filing against Cleveland Browns QB Deshaun Watson accusing him of sexual assault, but there are no plans at this time to place him on the Commissioner’s Exempt List. The Browns already have one player on the list stemming from criminal charges. Watson has never faced criminal charges, but this is now his 27th lawsuit accusing him of sexual misconduct.
Watson served an 11-game suspension at the start of the 2022 season stemming from the first couple dozen lawsuits. The NFL and NFLPA used an independent arbitrator to work out the suspension agreement, which included a compromise that he would face no further discipline for actions reasonably known to him during the same time period of “the same or substantially similar” nature.