By the end of 2022, dozens of women had settled lawsuits accusing now Browns quarterback Deshaun Watson of sexual assault and sexual harassment. Watson and his former franchise, the Texans, paid at least 30 women to settle the suits. Though Watson narrowly avoided criminal charges in two cases, the NFL found he had committed sexual assault as defined by the league’s conduct policy.
Satisfied the allegations against Watson were largely settled—although a handful of cases were still working their way through criminal and civil courts at the time—the Browns traded three first-round picks to Houston, then signed Watson to a $230 million fully guaranteed contract.
Now, Watson is facing a new allegation. In a lawsuit filed Monday, a Houston woman says Watson sexually assaulted her in her apartment in 2020.
In the lawsuit, the woman says an angry Watson “penetrated her vagina without consent, implicit or explicit” for “several minutes.”
The woman—who is identified only as a Houston resident and Jane Doe in the suit—says she tried to settle her claims against Watson privately before suing.
Nearly all of the suits Watson settled in 2022 were from private massage therapists who alleged in some form that after their appointments with Watson began, he exposed himself and began sexually harassing and sexually abusing them. The New York Times reported Watson booked appointments with 66 different private massage therapists in the Houston area from 2019 to 2021.
This woman describes similar conduct by Watson, but at her apartment on a date. “Within minutes of arriving at Jane Doe’s home, without any warning or encouragement or even knowledge he was going to do so, Watson abruptly got naked, lay on Jane Doe’s bed, and demanded that Jane Doe give him a massage,” the lawsuit reads. “Jane Doe complied due to fear.” The suit is seeking compensatory damages greater than $1 million.
The existence of the lawsuit was first reported by ProFootballTalk.
The woman in the case is represented by Texas lawyer Tony Buzbee, who represented dozens of the other women who brought and settled cases against Watson.
“This is an extremely serious matter,” Buzbee tells Front Office Sports. “We intend to pursue this case with the same aggressiveness with which we pursued the others. We want a jury trial. As far as any specific comments on the facts of the case, we believe the lawsuit speaks for itself.”
The NFL did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Watson’s contract is largely seen as one of the least team-friendly in pro sports, as he has struggled to find his pre-suspension form with the Browns. He went 24-for-45 with two interceptions in a blowout loss to the Cowboys on Sunday.
The Browns have repeatedly restructured Watson’s contract to create cap space, and his dead cap hit if released would be just over $200 million. The highest cap hit a team has ever absorbed for releasing a player is $85 million by the Broncos when they cut Russell Wilson.
Though another case involving a massage therapist is still winding its way through the courts, and Watson was suspended after agreeing to the Browns deal, his contract could contain language voiding guarantees if he is punished by the league or law again.
