"They blew that opportunity" - NFL analyst explains how Deshaun Watson and his legal team could have easily avoided lawsuits

Deshaun Watson and his legal team could have negotiated a little to prevent a lot of messiness regarding his lawsuit that now includes 24 (and counting) accusers of sexual violence, according to Pro Football Talk's Mike Florio.

Florio explained how attorney Rusty Hardin and the Deshaun Watson defense team let the issue snowball when it didn't have to. According to the NBC Sports radio host, simply engaging Ashley Solis, Watson's first accuser, could have prevented the prosecution, led by attorney Tony Buzbee, from escalating the matter.

"I think Ashley Solis was the very first one. She's the first one who came forward in her name. And I think she was the first one who, through Tony Buzbee, contacted Watson's firm. Demand was made of $100,000 to settle her claims. Now, anybody who knows anything about how the legal system works knows that that's an opening offer that is necessarily negotiable.

"And the way that the dance goes, the response would be should be. But wasn't in this case. Well, 100,000 is a little high. How about 20? How about 90? How about 30? How about 80? And $100,000 as an opener is a signal that this can be resolved between 50 and $75,000. If they would have engaged. But they didn't engage."

As Florio outlined, Deshaun Watson's defense team simply refused to make an offer, saying $100,000 was too much. According to the Pro Football Talk host, a simple $5,000 rebuttal would have been better than nothing:

"They refused to make an offer. They basically said 100,000 is too much. Make another offer, which is the kiss of death when it comes to negotiating with lawyers. Anybody? It's like the triple dog dare etiquette. Right. There is an etiquette to negotiating among lawyers and it becomes very transactional because that's the way you process these claims. And the very basic tenet is you never expect anyone to bet against themselves, even if they had just offered $5,000."

Deshaun Watson's counsel simply needed to cooperate with the prosecution: Mike Florio

Whatever the reasons were, Rusty Hardin and the defense didn't play ball. Simply avoiding flagrantly disrespecting Buzbee would have done the trick, according to Florio.

"Well, you know what will show as a gesture of good faith, we're willing to discuss this. Here is our offer. We need more information from you about what actually happened. And they blew that opportunity. And then, see if you settle her case. And that's the end of it. Number one, her case goes away and it becomes filed and nobody ever knows about [it]. Number two, you avoid pissing off Tony Buzbee."

Florio added that Watson's legal team acted arrogantly and dismissively, which rubbed Buzbee the wrong way:

"See what they did? They acted arrogantly. They acted dismissively and they pissed off the wrong guy because then what did he do? He went out and found more people who experienced this same treatment. So this thing, this guy moves on with his life, he moves on. And if there are others that somehow come forward, you do the same thing with them. you settle it."

Now, for Deshaun Watson, Rusty Hardin, and co., it's too late. The legal battle is underway, and Tony Buzbee is out to prove that Watson is a serial predator who doesn't deserve the chance to become an NFL superstar.

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