The NFL is appealing Watson's six-game suspension, according to a report from Tom Pelissero of NFL Network.

Goodell will now determine who will hear the appeal, according to a statement from NFL public relations head Brian McCarthy.

The story said earlier this week, Aaron Wilson of Pro Football Network suggested the NFL would be appealing the decision and handing down a much stiffer punishment. "Multiple league sources and legal experts predict that the NFL will exercise its right to file an appeal within three days and that NFL commissioner Roger Goodell will significantly increase the punishment levied against the three-time Pro Bowl passer that included no fine," Wilson said. According to the story, Wilson also suggested Goodell could add an additional four to six games to the suspension. Wilson also said the commish could seek a season-long suspension and fine in the millions.

More than two years after the first civil lawsuit was filed against Deshaun Watson, disciplinary officer Sue L. Robinson has suspended the Cleveland Browns quarterback for the first six games of the 2022 season, a source told ESPN's Adam Schefter.

Robinson, jointly appointed by the NFL and NFL Players Association to rule on the case and administer any punishment, listened to arguments from the league, the union and Watson's attorney during a three-day hearing held in her home state of Delaware in late June. The NFL had been pushing for a suspension of at least a year, while the union and Watson's attorney argued that the quarterback should not be suspended at all. The sides discussed a potential settlement all the way up through the hearing, but they could not agree to a deal.

John Paulsen's take: Projections have been updated to reflect a six-game suspension for Watson, though the league can still appeal the ruling. This is good news for the Browns' skill position players since they'll have a top-10 quarterback for roughly two-thirds of the season, so Amari Cooper, David Njoku and the rest of the offense gets a bump. Watson's draft value will be higher than where he falls in the rankings due to the available replacement value for the first six weeks. Managers could stream the position until Watson's return.

Browns coach Kevin Stefanski clarifies the QB depth chart, after the addition of Josh Rosen: “Jacoby Brissett is our backup quarterback. If Deshaun Watson is unavailable, Jacoby’s our starter.”

Brissett will likely only have value in deeper leagues if he's forced into action, and the Browns plan to get him first-team reps to get him ready - assuming Watson is suspended. Brissett under center will decrease the value of the entire passing game as the Browns will be forced to become run-heavy.

The Cleveland Browns have traded for QB Deshaun Watson and are giving him a new five-year deal.

Related Player: Baker Mayfield

Watson still faces punishment from the NFL as his legal troubles are not over. Watson has not played since 2020. Mayfield now stands to be traded to one of the team in dire need of a quarterback that would prefer to not start a rookie or sign any of the current free agents.

It’s a consequential moment not only for Tom Brady — who finished the 2021 season second in the league’s MVP voting — but also for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, who had been mulling over whether to pursue a Deshaun Watson trade this week. As recently as the NFL combine last week, Tampa Bay was believed to be high on the list of preferred trade destinations for the embattled Houston Texans quarterback. So much so that one team that was also weighing a serious pursuit of Watson told Yahoo Sports that it believed the Buccaneers would be the leading contender if Brady remained in retirement and Tampa Bay ultimately opened trade talks with the Texans.

His retirement lasted all of 40 days. This is obviously great news for all of the returning receivers, namely Mike Evans and Chris Godwin, who was slapped with the franchise tag last week. Brady will once again be ranked as a fantasy QB1 after two very solid seasons in Tampa.

The Texans expect the Dolphins to still be interested in trading for Deshaun Watson this offseason, and there could be more quarterback-needy teams in the mix, including the Broncos, Panthers, Eagles, Saints, Steelers and Washington Football Team.

There could be more of a bidding war once the season is over and leading up to the draft. Watson would have to waive his no-trade clause, however. Teams will likely still want Watson's 22 lawsuits to at least have more clarity before making a move.

Although the Dolphins did due diligence on Deshaun Watson and had conversations with Houston, Miami will not make a trade for the QB, per source.

Schefter went on to say Dolphins’ owner Stephen Ross, who had contingencies that needed to be met for any deal, made the final decision to not move forward. The Dolphins wanted Watson to settle his 22 lawsuits before completing the trade according to reports. Other reports said Watson was working on that, but then the Texans raised the price tag. If no trade is made today before 4 p.m., expect Watson to be inactive for the rest of the season, as has been the case every week to this point. The Texans will likely try to create another bidding war next year with the hope there is more resolution on Watson's legal issues. If not moved today, Watson can't be officially traded until March 16, 2022, the start of the league's new year, however talks can take place before that.

A few hours after Miami Dolphins owner Stephen Ross brushed away questions about possible interest in Houston Texans quarterback Deshaun Watson, a new report from longtime Houston Chronicle reporter John McClain indicated that Watson and NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell are the only things now standing in the way of a trade.

Per McClain, the Dolphins and Texans have agreed on compensation and Ross has signed off on the deal, but on the condition that Watson settles his legal issues stemming from 22 accusations of sexual misconduct and that he gets some sort of indication from Goodell as to whether and for how many games Watson would be suspended under the league's personal conduct policy.

The story said Roger Goodell and the NFL don't have enough information from law enforcement investigations and would need more than it has in order to put him on commissioner’s exempt list. The story went on to say at this point, the one way for Watson to settle his legal issues would be to reach a settlement with his accusers, but McClain, citing league sources, says Watson doesn't want to do that because it would represent an admission of guilt. The deal reportedly will include the three first round picks but possibly something less than the two second round picks. However, the deal seems to be stuck in place for now.