Cleveland Browns: 3 big questions as we start the month of July

Cleveland Browns Question No. 1 – How long will they be without Watson?

No one is surprised that the biggest question remaining is how long will Deshaun Watson be suspended? At this point, it’s all rumors, but more and more folks are believing that he will see the field at some point in 2022. I still think it will be 8-to-10 games the Browns are without their star quarterback, but they should have him to close the year and start their hopeful playoff run.

Watson settled 20 of the 24 cases and had his hearing with the NFL third-party disciplinary team just last week. At this point, it’s safe to say the committee has made some sort of recommendation, and now the final decision is being made by Rodger Goodell.

I don’t have enough evidence to make a prediction, but I can tell you the NFL will be motivated to get Watson back and his defense would be strong when you look at the punishment given to Robert Kraft and Dan Snyder.

Keeping this purely about football, the Browns do have a favorable schedule early in the season. If Jacoby Brissett had to start the first six games, I think the Browns would be fine. But, if he was forced into playing eight to ten as the starter, there is a good chance the Browns would already be too far behind to catch up.

Remember, the AFC North will be one of the toughest divisions in football this year. The Bengals made the Super Bowl last year, Lamar Jackson is still one of the most exciting players in the league, and the Steelers as much as it kills me to say are one of the best-run organizations in the world. Nothing will come easy for this team.