“I’m going to use the 22 cases he still has against him” - Stephen A. Smith believes teams will use Deshaun Watson’s past as bargaining chip in trade 

Houston Texans quarterback Deshaun Watson was traded to the Cleveland Browns this afternoon in a stunning trade that sent the Texans three first-round picks, a third-rounder and a late-round pick swap, and a fourth for a fifth, according to NFL Network's Ian Rapoport.

Following this news, Stephen A. Smith had the opportunity to voice his opinion on First Take, and it's safe to say he doesn't agree with the compensation that the Texans received for their now-former quarterback. Since the quarterback missed all of last season, Smith thinks that his trade value should have decreased.

“Let's get a bit more pragmatic about this. We’re really talking about what would you give up? That's what we really mean by that question. I'll give up two number ones for Deshaun Watson. But I'm going to use, from a managerial perspective, I'm going to use this year that he missed against him now. I’m going to use the 22 cases civilly that he still has against him now," said Smith.

Smith then added that the uncertainty of how the NFL will discipline the quarterback doesn't help the situation.

"I'm going to also use the fact that I don't know what the NFL is going to do as it pertains to the punishment they’re going to hand down to him once he gets picked up by a team. And I've been on the record, saying, I don't like the fact that the NFL doesn't advertise ‘this is what your punishment is gonna be at the very least.’ They don't have to be definitive. Like you could modify it down the road. But damn, we sitting here wondering what the punishment is gonna be at all when you got teams interested in him," Smith added.

The NFL could still suspend Deshaun Watson

Cincinnati Bengals v Houston Texans

Smith did bring up two excellent points. While the quarterback is still young and had an incredible 2020 season, where he led the league in passing yards, he still missed the entire season last year. When Le'Veon Bell decided to sit out in 2018, he never returned to the same level of play and just wasn't the same star player he used to be.

The second point Smith makes is also a very valid one. Although Watson is clear of criminal charges, the NFL has the power to suspend him for however long they want if they choose to do so. Ezekiel Elliot was suspended by the NFL for six games in 2017. He missed the first six games of the season for violating the personal conduct policy. His suspension stemmed from accusations of domestic violence against his ex-girlfriend on several occasions in 2016. NFL officials conducted a year-long investigation into the allegations, and though Elliott was never criminally charged, the NFL decided to suspend him.

We could see a situation similar to Elliot's where the NFL may suspend Watson just to prove a point. The Browns will have to put into consideration that Watson could start the season suspended and will possibly have to plan around not having Watson for the start of next season.