The Falcons were unsuccessful in their attempt to trade for Deshaun Watson, but the mere act of considering it led to criticism, as Watson is accused of sexual misconduct by 22 female massage therapists. For their part, the Falcons are defending their actions.
Falcons coach Arthur Smith wouldn’t detail what steps the team took to investigate the accusations against Watson.
“We’re not going to get into, you know, our process,” Smith said, via D. Orlando Ledbetter of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “We understood the seriousness [of the civil cases].”
Falcons general manager Terry Fontenot said the team felt that adding Watson was at least worth considering.
“Based on the information we had, we wanted to explore [a trade for Watson],” Fontenot said.
The Browns are getting plenty of criticism for acquiring Watson, but the Falcons (as well as the Panthers and Saints) can easily get the same criticism. Any team that was willing to trade for Watson was willing to take on a great player who also has a great number of women accusing him of very serious improprieties.
