"Browns will face consequences of their arrogant behavior" - Mina Kimes slams Cleveland for lying about doing due diligence before signing Deshaun Watson

The Cleveland Browns and Deshaun Watson's woes worsened last week after a New York Times article by sports reporter Jenny Vrentas alleged that the quarterback visited, at least, 66 massage therapists in a 17-month span between 2019 and 2020.

The article also had testimonies from two women detailing their horrific experiences with Watson, with both alleging that the quarterback coerced a sexual encounter while getting a massage.

ESPN's Mina Kimes did not hold back in her criticism of the Browns.

She first explained why Vrentas speaking to all 66 massage therapists, even those that haven't sued Watson, was crucial. She said:

"First, I'll say, I consider this to be a major, major story. You laid out a lot of the important developments in Jenny Vrentas' tremendous reporting. But I'll add another one. At this point, she has now spoken with multiple women who shared similar stories of these awful encounters with Deshaun Watson and did not sue.

"That is important because, as you know, so often, with stories like this, people's first instinct is to question the motives of accusers, to bend over backwards, trying to justify unjustifiable behavior, to hatch galaxy brain conspiracy theories, instead of simply reading an article and ultimately to willfully forget."

Kimes, then, accused the Browns of banking on fans, the media and the NFL moving on from the allegations without consequences. She said:

"Of course that's what the Browns bet on when they gave Deshaun Watson $230 million. Not just the fans but the media, the NFL, people in and around this league that we will all move on and forget."

She then claimed Vrentas' report showcased that the Browns were willfully ignorant about Watson's indiscretions, so they could land the quarterback, and they would deservedly face the wrath of fans, the media and the league:

"But they failed to account for something or someone in this case, which is what Jenny Vrentas would do, what they refused to do, what they lied about doing, which is actually investigate Watson's claims. And as a result, the NFL has to go harder on their suspension and the Browns will face the consequences of their arrogant behavior."

Deshaun Watson continues to plead innocence

The Cleveland Browns quarterback responded to the the New York Times article on his Instagram profile by posting a screengrab of the lyrics to Lil Baby, Lil Durk, and Rod Wave's song "Rich off Pain." The screenshot read:

"See, the blogs can't break me down, see, I'm the voice, I don't reply. But the rumors y'all done heard, I'ma humbly deny, yeah, yeah."

Watson deleted the post soon after.