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The Falcons’ attempt to trade Deshawn Watson was not successful, but the very fact that the issue was considered drew criticism, as 22 female masseuses accuse Watson of sexual harassment. For their part, the Falcons defend their actions.
Falcons coach Arthur Smith did not elaborate on what steps the team had taken to investigate the allegations against Watson.
“We’re not going to interfere, you know, in our process,” Smith said via D. Orlando Ledbetter of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “We understood the seriousness [of the civil cases]”.
Falcons general manager Terry Fontenot said the team believes the addition of Watson is at least worthy of consideration.
“Based on the information we have, we wanted to study [a trade for Watson]Fonteno said.
The Browns are receiving a lot of criticism for acquiring Watson, but the Falcons (as well as the Panthers and Saints) could easily receive the same criticism. Any team that was willing to trade Watson was willing to take on a great player who also has a slew of women accusing him of very serious infractions.