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Earlier this week the national Football League and the National Football League Players Association agreed to extend Deshaun Watson’s suspension to 11 games.

Now remember NFL commissioner Roger Goodell no longer has complete authority to suspend players and Watson case went to arbitrator who ruled that he’d be suspended for 6 games.

I believe the majority of people thought that 6 games was too short of a suspension for Watson and they were trying to blame Goodell and the NFL for it, but it really wasn’t their decision. After the suspension was announced the NFL made it known they’d be appealing that decision and they actually asked for Watson to be suspended for the entire 2022 season. Obviously, the league and the players association where able to get together and work out a number that both sides would be happy with.

Watson was accused by over 20 women of sexual misconduct while with the Houston Texans. The state of Texas declined to charge Watson with any crimes, and he’s settled almost every one of these cases out of court. It hasn’t been made public what any of these women got and I’m sure there’s a non-disclosure agreement in the settlement, so we probably won’t ever find out what they were paid.

With the majority of this behind Watson his new team the Cleveland Browns can start to plan what and how they’re going to handle their quarterback position for the first 11 weeks of the regular season.

The Browns currently have three other quarterbacks on their roster besides Watson. As of right now it looks like Jacoby Brissett would be the starter with Joshua Dobbs backing him up and Josh Rosen as the third quarterback.

The Browns traded for Watson this past off season and you have to wonder if they’ll stick with Brissett as their starting quarterback or if they’ll look to possibly make another trade for a quarterback.

With the regular season starting in just a few weeks there aren’t a ton of options out there for the Browns. Of course, the big-name would-be Jimmy Garoppolo since the San Francisco 49ers have said that Trey Lance would be their starting quarterback and they’ve allowed Garoppolo to actually stay away from training camp. It’s unclear what the 49ers would want in return for Garoppolo, but you’d think that the Browns might to check-in and see.

There are actually still some veterans that are currently not on anyone’s roster, but I’m not sure they’re an upgrade over Brissett.

There’s Ryan Fitzpatrick who announced his retirement this past off season. Maybe for the right opportunity he might come back. Cam Newton is also available, but he’s had still struggles the past two seasons as he tried to re-establish himself as a starting NFL quarterback. Two other veterans available are Mike Glennon and A.J. McCarron, but they don’t have the starting quarterback resume that Fitzpatrick and Newton have.

What do you think the Browns will do? Will they sit tight with Brissett as their starting quarterback and wait for Watson to return in Week 13? Since the Browns have their Bye week on Week 9 Watson doesn’t return until Week 13. Or do you think they try to make a move and bring in another quarterback? If you’re leaning towards them bringing in another quarterback, let me know who you think that might be.

In what has to be just an odd scenario what should be Watson’s first game as Cleveland’s starting quarterback will come in Week 13 when the Browns are on the road against the Houston Texas. Watson was traded by the Texans to the Browns this past off season after spending his first five seasons with Houston.

It’s unclear how Watson’s situation will affect the Browns on the field, but I’m sure that having it settled should help as players shouldn’t be asked to comment about it any longer. It did appear that Cleveland might’ve been in a good position to compete in the AFC North, but that may have changed with Watson out until Week 13.

The division is tough with the Cincinnati Bengals just coming off a Super Bowl appearance and the Baltimore Ravens still being a very good team. There are some questions about the Pittsburgh Steelers this season as it’s the first time since 2004 that Ben Rothlisberger won’t be their starting quarterback. The Bengals and the Ravens have some questions as well. Can the Bengals repeat the success from last season? Or was there playoff run just a fluke? Baltimore may have a bit of a distraction as their quarterback Lamar Jackson is looking for a new contract. Jackosn has said that he won’t negotiate once the regular season has started and if this contract situation drags on into the regular season will it affect Jackson?

So, you can see that every team in the AFC North as some questions that need to be answered coming into the regular season. Unfortunately, it looks as though the Browns will have one of the biggest hurdles to climb as they know they’ll be without their starting quarterback for 11 weeks.

Don’t forget that you can find me on twitter @Burketime.