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Wednesday on 2 Pros and a Cup of Joe, Jonas Knox, Brady Quinn and LaVar Arrington react to the NY Times article on Deshaun Watson and wonder how his record setting, $250M in guaranteed money, will affect the landscape of the NFL if Roger Goodell ends up laying the hammer and suspending the Browns quarterback for a year or longer.
Jonas Knox: "It just wouldn't surprise me if there are [owners] calling up Roger Goodell saying you got to lay the hammer down, which is why we've been saying for a few days now, a year suspension at least feels absolutely reasonable at this point in time."
Brady Quinn: "The hard thing becomes the precedent that maybe has been set by Jimmy Haslam... You've got the collective bargaining agreement that's bargained in the conduct policy, and so every other owner might say, 'Well, we can't allow this to happen again with another contract and then someone's gonna be able to get away with whatever conduct they want off the field, and then be able to still play or still face that suspension, but not take away any of those monies.' So the more and more I get into it, the more I'm kind of thinking, Cleveland probably was like, 'We'll throw whatever number you want for a contract but the second you're suspended, those guarantees are voided.' And that's probably where we're at now."
LaVar Arrington: "It's very possible that he could never play again. But yet a guy that never played again reset the entire market for how quarterbacks are paid... This puts the NFLPA in a compromising position as well, in terms of trying to defend Deshaun Watson or defend the contract that's been done."