Mr. Scot

He could "weigh in" with the team's football people, but I'd rather he didn't.

The most important things you need to play in the current Panthers system are accuracy, intelligence and the ability to make good reads. Does Darnold have those things? been a while since I've read a scouting report on him so I couldn't say.

Tepper's not the guy making our free agency decisions. (nor should he be)

I don't know if I'm ready to go that far yet. Pretty comfortable saying that, barring a miracle, it's not gonna be Watson.

As in "the Panthers would need for Watson to be exonerated (not likely to happen anytime soon, if it happens at all) before they could agree to trade for him."

That dude was a real prize.

He's signing there.

What sort of gif would best represent calling you a communist?

Actually there has. Our own Verge said the "ship has sailed" for now and the Panthers would need for Watson to be exonerated (not likely to happen anytime soon, if it happens at all) before they could agree to trade for him. John McClain has acknowledged the same. While he says he does believe that Watson could still be traded at some point, it won't be until his issues are resolved which puts the time frame sometime before the trade deadline during the regular season (again, if it happens at all). Other general sources like Albert Breer and Peter King have echoed the idea that there's really no way anybody can trade for him right now. SI actually just brought out a pretty strongly worded column arguing that point. And also there was Ben Albright who reportedly listed three teams as having cooled on the idea of trading for Watson, one of them being the Panthers. So bottom line, whether you believe he's guilty or not guilty, nobody can trade for him right now. Nor should they.

"Unlikely" isn't the word I'd use.

At this point, I'm about half expecting the defense to come out with some form of "I have an illness / addiction / pathological issue so technically I did it but it's not really my fault". Granted, they could still come out fighting tooth and nail but I won't be terribly surprised if there's an element of image rehab involved. And if that is the case, then no you can't trade for him.

I think someone who would talk about women this way is probably a pretty large douchebag.

Two women have accused him of forcing oral sex. In your mind, that equates to "hurt feelings"?

They're also requesting that he admit guilt.

Of $500.

Officially filed lawsuit count is now at thirteen. This would be the first of the additional ten that had been talked about in the presser.

The account that said we were looking at Gurley is phony. The contact with Carson makes me think that we do indeed want a runningback, but there's no actual indication we're talking to Gurley.

Well, to be honest, none of these scenarios are very realistic. Especially when you consider that Watson started seeing these massage therapists well before there was any problem between he and the team.

Yep, and all that when the more obvious solution would have been to trade him for a massive return haul then put this information out there. I get that McNair and the Texans are spiteful and dumb, but even they're not that dumb. As has been said many times, nobody knows how this is going to play out. That said, if your primary logic begins and ends with "Watson is a really good quarterback and I want him to play for the Panthers", I'm not really expecting much in the way of solid analysis on the situation.

Latest from The Athletic's Texans writer Aaron Reiss... All but two of the suits involve plaintiffs who say they were contacted for massage appointments in 2020. The other two incidents, also involving massage therapists, allegedly occurred in January and March of 2021. The suits allege Watson forced two women to perform oral sex, ejaculated in front of two women, groped a woman’s vagina and buttocks and kissed another woman unprompted upon arrival for an appointment. Nine of the 11 publicly available suits accuse Watson of inappropriately touching women with his penis. One alleges that at the end of a massage, after trying to direct a woman to touch his anus, Watson exposed himself and asked if she "did more" than professional work "for more money." Four more women file lawsuits against Deshaun Watson for sexual assault Also comments from Albert Breer and Stephanie Stradley, a lawyer who works for the Houston Chronicle, about where things go from here.

That's one of the reasons why I think the idea that the Texans could have been behind this is so laughable. As it was, they either could have traded him for a big haul or would have had the ability to not pay him and/or fine him if he refused to play. If he ends up on the exempt list, he won't be playing for them but they'll still be paying him as if he were.

I don't think anybody can until there's some sort of resolution. You'd have to be a complete moron to trade for somebody with stuff like this hanging over his head.

FYI: Latest lawsuit filed today includes charges by a second woman alleging that Watson tried to force her to perform oral sex on him.

From McClain's article (link) I believe Watson is still destined to be traded, but rather than by the draft as I’ve been predicting, I now think it could be during the season at the trade deadline or before the 2022 draft. Teams will want Watson to have his legal issues settled, and they’ll want to know the results of the NFL’s investigation for possible violation of the league’s personal conduct policy.

That's what the article basically says, that teams are interested if he's cleared. John McClain said the same in a newer article. This one's actually a repost of one from Friday that was already discussed here