“How hard were you really digging?” - Analyst pressures NFL authorities to reveal how many Deshaun Watson accusers they have spoken to

The NFL's investigation into Deshaun Watson and the allegations of sexual misconduct against him took sixteen months to complete. Watson has now attended his disciplinary hearing, and the NFL world is waiting for a decision to be announced.

But the constant rumors that have circled this case since day one continue to swirl. The story has taken another turn. Watson's former team, the Houston Texans, recently settled with 30 claimants who accused them of enabling Watson's alleged conduct.

Deshaun Watson faced a grand total of 24 civil cases and recently settled 20 of them. The Texans' settlement has led some to believe that more lawsuits may yet be filed against the Cleveland Browns quarterback.

NFL analyst Peter Burns believes the league must come clean about what it knows. Appearing on the Bart and Hahn podcast, he had the following to say:

"It's imperative for the NFL to get out in front of this story from the Houston Texans today."

Burns continued:

"We're monitoring of this and we were aware. They need to show that they were in control, because this is going to look horrifically bad for the NFL who said, 'Hey, we can investigate this, we're going to do the right thing for the league, the right thing for the team, the right thing for the player, the right thing for the females, in this case.'"

He added:

"If all of a sudden you didn't know this information, how hard were you really digging? Or did you just want to dig a little hard enough to make it seem like you did? That's going to be the question."

The NFL should reach a decision on the Deshaun Watson case soon

Cleveland Browns mandatory minicamp

Deshaun Watson would surely have hoped that following his long awaited disciplinary hearing, he would finally be able to move on with his NFL career. However, that appears to be increasingly unlikely.

NFL insiders are suggesting that a season-long suspension is on the cards, but that sort of punishment will undoubtedly lead to legal action being taken against the league.

As is the norm with this entire saga, the rumors of an impending courtroom battle are already out there. This would not be beneficial for either side. Any delay that extended past the upcoming season could get expensive for Watson, due to the structure of his contract.

The NFL will want to avoid further legal trouble, as this may end up shining a light on their investigation. What they did and didn't know could be made public, and the entire investigation be subjected to scrutiny. Despite the recent rhetoric, a compromise agreement between the parties could be a possible outcome.

The NFL should be reaching a decision on Deshaun Watson soon. The issue they have is that if further cases are filed against the quarterback, or harrowing testimony comes out, their decision will be questioned. There has never been a player facing this many accusers in NFL history, so it's hard to give an accurate timescale for when they will reach a decision.

It will be interesting to see what they decide to do with Deshaun Watson.

If you use any of the above quotes, please credit Peter Burns, the Bart and Hahn podcast and H/T Sportskeeda.