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The people most responsible for bringing Deshawn Watson to Cleveland will be absent from Watson’s official introduction in his new city.
When Watson holds a press conference at 1:00 pm ET Friday, he will be joined by general manager Andrew Berry and coach Kevin Stefansky. Owners Jimmy and Dee Haslam will not be present.
Instead, as Mary Kay Cabot of the Cleveland Plain Dealer points out, the Haslams will be available via videoconference at 3:00 pm ET.
It’s a strange compromise. They know they can’t hide completely, so they’ll perform separately after Watson, Berry and Stefanski face the music without them.
Make no mistake about it. Watson-Brown because the Haslams agreed to fully guarantee every penny of the five-year, $230 million contract. If they hadn’t given the green light to the move, Watson might well have gone elsewhere. They should be there when Watson sits down to answer questions. In the end, it’s their business.
As mentioned earlier this morning, the Browns deliberately took on a short-term problem in hopes of finding a long-term solution in the quarterback. This does not mean that the people most responsible for Watson’s visit can shy away from attending Watson’s introduction to Cleveland.
It will also be interesting to see how things are going today, from the questions posed to the answers provided by all those involved. Be that as it may, it would be much calmer for all parties concerned if the 22 cases were settled before the start of the press conferences. However, it is clearly too late for that.