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DJ Bien-AimeGAME
HOUSTON — The Houston Texas will forfeit their original fifth-round selection in the 2023 NFL draft and have been fined $175,000 for violating the former quarterback’s salary cap report. Deshaun WatsonThe NFL announced Thursday.
After a review, the NFL determined that the Texans had compensated Watson in the form of a membership at an alternative sports facility in 2020, early in the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Texans said they “absorbed $26,777 in costs for the benefit of players using alternative sports facilities.” The team said it understood that amount “should have been included in the player’s salary.”
Under the collective bargaining agreement, teams must report any player compensation or benefits. Texans believe the payout does not confer any advantage on the salary cap and consider it an accounting error.
“The club has fully cooperated with the federation in its investigation into these matters and asserts that it has no intention of breaking any wage cap rules or gaining any competitive advantage. “, the Texan said in a statement. “While we disagree with the league’s ruling, we will accept the imposed discipline and move forward.”
The NFL initially picked the Texans in the fourth round and fined them $250,000, but those penalties were reduced on appeal, sources told ESPN’s Adam Schefter.
After losing picks in the fifth round and then receiving a seventh make up pick late on Thursday, the Texans now have 11 picks in this year’s NFL draft, including picks 2 and 12 that they received as part of the transaction that brought Watson to Cleveland Browns in March 2022.
Following that deal, the Browns signed Watson to a five-year, $230 million contract.
He received an 11-game ban for violating the league’s personal conduct policy by committing sexual assault, as defined by the NFL, against massage therapists. He was also fined $5 million and required to attend a mandatory treatment program.
Watson was accused by more than two dozen women of sexual assault and other misconduct during massage sessions before he was sidelined for the entire 2021 season. During the summer, he agreed to settle 23 in number 24 lawsuits against him. Two lawsuits against him stand out, including one filed on October 13. Two other women filed criminal lawsuits against Watson but did not sue him.
ESPN’s Jake Trotter contributed to this report.
