MITCHELL SCHWARTZ: “WATSON TRADE AND CONTRACT DOESN’T FEEL RIGHT”
Former Kansas City Chiefs right tackle Mitchell Schwartz has been vocal about his concerns regarding the Deshaun Watson trade from the Houston Texans to the Cleveland Browns. The 12th overall pick in the 2017 draft was traded to the Browns on Friday last week in a deal that saw the Browns give up a 2022 first-round pick, 2023 first-round pick, 2024 first-round pick, 2023 third-round pick and 2024 fourth-round pick in exchange for Watson and a 2024 fifth-round pick.
Schwartz was drafted in the second round by the Browns in 2012 and played four seasons in Cleveland. It seems the three-time Second-team All-Pro followed the news as it broke and didn’t agree with the Browns’ decision to acquire Watson. He took to Twitter on Saturday to voice his concerns, saying: “The Watson trade and contract still doesn’t feel right to me. Do we have any clarity on the 22 lawsuits against him? From what I’ve seen…the grand jury non-indictment doesn’t mean much, and surely doesn’t absolve him.”
Deshaun Watson was cleared of all criminal charges on March 11th after a 12-person grand jury rejected nine cases on the basis that they believed the cases lacked enough evidence to show probable cause to support criminal charges, only a week before his trade to the Browns. This meant that Watson would not be tried criminally and caused teams in the NFL to lobby for his services. The list of teams included the Cleveland Browns, Carolina Panthers, New Orleans Saints, and Atlanta Falcons.
Watson was handed a massive 5-year, $230 million dollar contract by the Browns front office, fully guaranteed, breaking the record for fully guaranteed money at signing. The previous record was $150 million held by Bills quarterback Josh Allen and then 2021 MVP, Aaron Rodgers. Rodgers had agreed to the deal with Green Bay only three days prior to Watson’s trade.
“The $1 million base salary the first year feels slimy and wrong,” said Schwartz. “And look, I follow contracts. I understand that most deals have a big signing bonus and a relatively low base salary the first year. Mine did. But this feels purposeful. He got paid millions last year to not play as well.” Watson was part of the 53-man roster for the Houston Texans in 2021 but did not play a snap for the team. His contract with Cleveland sees him receiving a $45million signing bonus and a $1 million base salary. The base salary means that even if Watson gets suspended by the NFL, it will come out of that base, costing him just $55,555 per game lost.
“Now he’s traded for three first-round picks, signs the biggest guaranteed contract of all time, and breaks lots of contract precedent to do it. And yet he’s got 22 civil cases against him and the NFL will most likely still suspend him. There’s strong corroborating evidence,” Schwartz went on. “Who knows if it was actually Cleveland’s words saying they want “an adult” at QB…My imagery of an adult at QB doesn’t include someone getting sued by 22 women for sexual assault or sexual misconduct.”
Schwartz also said he hopes the team is able to void the contract if the NFL suspends Deshaun Watson and alleged that the NFL doesn’t “react strongly” to criminal or civil allegations unless there is video evidence. “In the NFL it seems like unless there’s video evidence, the league doesn’t react very strongly,” he said. “It’s like we don’t trust something happened unless we see it, and that’s how the NFL bases punishment.”
“We’ll see on that. The NFL has clearly been slow playing it. They might determine this is all true and suspend him for a year or who knows how long. The 22 lawsuits Watson faces aren’t gone. He’s not absolved. But teams/fans/whoever are treating him as innocent. It just seems wrong.”
Schwartz also called out the Cleveland Browns for restructuring Watson’s contract to protect his money in case the NFL suspended him. “And @PFF_Brad just showed me an article saying the team structured the deal to protect Watson’s money should he be suspended. Which is even worse! Going out of your way to protect a guy who might be suspended for sexually assaulting or harassing 22+ women?” he said. “No, don’t like that at all.”
Mitchell Schwartz is currently a free agent and has yet to announce his retirement from the NFL. He did not play in 2021 and did not sign with any team but is expected to make a decision before the season starts in September.
-Maher Abucheri
Twitter: @pabloikonyero