An attorney representing the 23 Watson accusers said this week he plans to file a 24th complaint ‘soon’.
The 23rd lawsuit filed against Cleveland Browns QB Deshaun Watson contains interesting details regarding the player’s past efforts to settle with his accusers.
According to the litigation filed by Nia Smith — who joins the 22 plaintiffs accusing Watson of sexual misconduct — the Browns QB offered the six-figure sum to each of his accusers but requested an “aggressive” non-disclosure agreement in return.
One testimony among the 22 accusers previously called out the alleged hush money, all represented by attorney Tony Buzbee, once noted that Watson offered her $100,000 to “buy peace” against the alleged misdeeds.
Buzbee will add the 23rd woman to his list of Watson accusers. Attorney Rusty Hardin is working for Watson.
The sum of money was also a detail amid the reported trade talks between the Miami Dolphins and Houston Texans to settle on a trade deal for Watson. Miami wanted Watson’s case settled before swapping capital.
Instead, Watson went to Cleveland and signed a $230 million fully-guaranteed contract.
As relayed by The New York Post, “the footnote also seems to be a reference to the Miami Dolphins wanting the cases settled before attempting to trade for Watson, who was still with the Texans at the time.”
“Of course, we now know that Deshaun Watson offered each Plaintiff $100,000 to settle their cases, but not all would accept that amount, due to the aggressive non-disclosure agreement that Watson’s team proposed,” Smith’s petition detailed.
