An 8-game suspension for Deshaun Watson could be enough to ruin the Browns' season

When will a decision be made regarding Deshaun Watson? This question has been a top NFL storyline for months, ever since the quarterback agreed to join the Cleveland Browns.

Training camps are beginning around the league, and there is still no clarity on the situation. All fans have to go off of, at the moment, is rumors about the length of a potential ban.

Fans have heard whispers of everything from a full-season suspension to no suspension at all. One potential scenario is an eight-game ban. This would mean both sides meet in the middle in order to put an end to the saga and avoid an appeal from the player.

Unfortunately for the Browns, even an eight-game suspension could end their chances of success in the 2022-23 campaign.

Any significant Deshaun Watson suspension turns the focus to 2023

Deshaun Watson Press Conference

The season is now 17 games long and an eight-game ban would result in Watson missing nearly half the campaign. That is a significant amount of time in a stacked AFC.

The Browns seem to be ready to roll with Jacoby Brissett, if Watson misses time. A best-case scenario with the backup may be a 4-4 or 5-3 start, with the latter being a dream scenario.

But let's say Brissett starts, leads the team to a 4-4 start, and Watson returns. He has not played since the 2020 season and would be showing up after nearly two years away from NFL action.

He would also have only two or three losses to work with if the team is going to make the postseason. There is also no guarantee that Watson is the same player he was in 2020, even though the hype seems to say he is.

Thus, missing the first eight games and showing up without any room for rust likely means the focus turns to 2023 for the Browns. They should realistically have their top signal-caller for the entirety of that campaign and he could get any bad games out of the way early on.

However, there is a shot that his 2023 season is disrupted as well, given the fact that he still has four pending civil lawsuits facing him. This is why the situation in general was questionable from the start. This is also why a fully-guaranteed $230 million deal raised a ton of eyebrows around the NFL world.

The NFL is in a difficult spot as they want to punish the player without going overboard. Eight games seems to be the middle ground. Either way, for Browns fans, the focus will likely have to be on the 2023-24 season.