Mark Madden: PR plays major role in NFL's decision on Deshaun Watson's punishment

With each day that passes before the NFL’s punishment of Deshaun Watson is determined, the bigger the likelihood that the suspension will be lenient, even minimal.

The case has festered for more than a year. A three-day hearing was just held. The two sides will submit paperwork to the disciplinary officer arguing their positions next week. A settlement could be negotiated.

Is this about due process or buying time?

Watson was the subject of 24 civil lawsuits. All but four are settled. He had been named in 10 criminal complaints, but no charges were filed.

When Ben Roethlisberger got banned six games (later shortened to four) in 2010, just nine months elapsed between the initial complaint and the NFL’s punishment. Watson’s situation has been active for over 16 months.

Aside from the numbers involved, why is Watson’s case so much more complicated?

One probable reason: Cleveland wants Watson to play as soon as possible, but the Steelers wanted Roethlisberger suspended. The franchise felt Roethlisberger was out of control, had desecrated the logo and needed taught a lesson.

Here’s another guess: In 2019, New England owner Robert Kraft got nicked for soliciting prostitution as part of an investigation into sex trafficking in Florida. Charges were dropped. Video of Kraft’s indiscretions was suppressed. The NFL did not punish.

If Watson gets the yearlong ban the NFL reportedly wants, his representatives and the NFL Players Association could (and should) loudly point to Kraft not being disciplined.

Would that impact Watson’s fate? Maybe. Would it be a PR nightmare? Definitely.

Then again, giving Watson a token suspension would raise a bigger fuss.

That’s the NFL’s fault. If the league had acted properly regarding Kraft, it could act properly regarding Watson.

The NFL investigation reportedly found “no evidence that Watson engaged in violence, made threats, applied coercion, or used force.” That got (intentionally?) leaked.

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So if Watson did none of those things, why is he being punished at all? How many games should he sit out for being creepy?

Here’s betting on this chain of events moving forward:

• Disciplinary officer Sue Robinson bans Watson for some fraction of the season. Either four, six or eight games.

• NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell makes the suspension indefinite, thereby appearing to wield the full power of his office as well as the perceived proper morality.

• The suspension is later cut, a la Roethlisberger. Watson returns after missing eight games, maybe less. Perhaps Watson sitting out the 2021 season (with pay) because of the situation is illogically tossed into the mix as “time served.”

So this really is about buying time.

The suspension might appear severe when it’s given.

But if Watson returns earlier than what’s imposed, more of the heat will have died down by then.

Nothing is allowed to ruin a football Sunday. The NFL is too important (gag).

The torches-and-pitchforks crowd demand harsh, harsher, harshest. But the longer this takes, the more they move onto something else. And if coercion and force weren’t involved, I ask again, why is Watson being punished at all?

This is about PR now. Nothing else.