PALM BEACH, Fla. — Cleveland Browns quarterback Deshaun Watson may not face criminal charges, but NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell made it clear Tuesday that Watson could still be disciplined under the league’s personal conduct policy due to the 22 pending civil lawsuits against him for improperly committing him sexual behavior.
At the end of the league meetings here, Goodell said Watson is still under investigation by the NFL for possible violations of their personal conduct policy. League investigator Lisa Friel is overseeing the investigation, which Goodell said has no timeline for completion at this time. Once the investigation is complete, it will be referred to a jointly appointed NFL/NFLPA Disciplinary Officer, who will determine whether Watson should be suspended and/or fined for violations of the personal conduct policy identified by the investigation.
“Obviously these are serious allegations, so we’re looking at it seriously,” Goodell said. “The Personal Conduct Policy is very important to us, and it doesn’t take a criminal offense to pursue it.”
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Two separate Texas grand juries recently declined to indict Watson on criminal charges stemming from complaints made against him by multiple massage therapists alleging he engaged in inappropriate sexual conduct. But 22 women still have civil lawsuits pending against him, and Watson said at a press conference last week that he has no plans to settle them.
Asked specifically about whether Watson could end up on the commissioner’s exemption list — a device the league has used in the past to impose paid furlough on players under investigation in the league — Goodell said that the lack of criminal charges make this far less likely. That means Watson, who was traded to Cleveland by the Houston Texans earlier this month, will likely be available to the Browns while the league investigation continues.
Goodell was also asked if the structure of Watson’s new $230 million contract with Cleveland, which this year includes a hefty signing bonus but a league minimum salary, would affect the way the league might enforce discipline . The low base salary could serve as financial protection for Watson should he be suspended from paying as the game controls he missed would be the league’s minimum requirements. But the Personal Conduct Policy states that “discipline may be a fine, a suspension for a definite or an indefinite period (or) a combination of both,” indicating that the disciplining officer, if she sees fit, A penalty could be a fine in addition to a suspension without pay.
“That would not limit our ability to enforce discipline,” Goodell said of the contract structure. “We would have the opportunity to apply discipline appropriately.”
Other points raised in Goodell’s press conference on Tuesday:
• Goodell said Washington Commanders owner Dan Snyder will remain suspended from day-to-day operations of the franchise as a result of the NFL’s investigation over the past year. Snyder’s wife and Commanders co-CEO, Tanya Snyder, has represented the team at league events for nearly eight months. She has also taken on the day-to-day duties of running the franchise. Dan Snyder attended Washington’s games last season but was not present at the team’s training facility in Ashburn, Virginia. Goodell said Tanya “represented the club here and will continue to be, at least for the foreseeable future, but Dan and I will talk about it at some point.”
On July 2, the NFL announced that it had fined Washington $10 million for creating a toxic work culture and that Dan Snyder would be retiring from the franchise’s day-to-day operations for at least a few months. The NFL opened another investigation into Snyder in February after allegations of sexual misconduct by a former employee, Tiffani Johnston. This investigation is ongoing.
• Asked about former Miami Dolphins coach Brian Flores’ pending lawsuit against the league for unfair hiring practices regarding minority coach candidates, Goodell quoted the league’s Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Committee as saying it was important to address the complaints of Flores and find out what the league can do better in terms of the diversity of their hiring practices. The league passed a resolution Monday requiring every team to hire at least one minority coach on its offense coaching staff. Goodell also said that if the league’s investigation into Flores’ allegations that Dolphins owner Stephen Ross offered him money to lose games on purpose to improve the team’s draft position revealed any wrongdoing, those results would be released .
ESPN’s John Keim contributed to this report.