Not over yet

Hold on just a minute there, Browns fans. Put your happiness at the Deshaun Watson decision on hold for who knows how long.

The National Football League Wednesday exercised its right to appeal the decision of former Federal District Court Judge Sue. L. Robinson, the league's disciplinary officer who punished Watson with a six-game suspension for violating the league's personal conduct policy.

Right now, the case appears headed straight to the desk of Commissioner Roger Goodell, who will be the final arbiter, as agreed to by the NFL Players Association in the last Collective Bargaining Agreement.

Goodell holds the hammer. His ultimate ruling, which conceivably could take weeks in reaching, is binding. According to the CBA, his decision will "constitute full, final and complete disposition of the dispute." 

Here is how it works. Goodell has the option of delegating either himself or a designee of his choice to respond in writing to Robinson's decision as to what the league believes is a more fitting punishment, ostensibly a longer suspension. It reportedly has already been filed.

One of the options is the NFL restoring its hardened stance during the negotiation stage of sitting the Cleveland quarterback down for a year with the commissioner's reinstatement the only way to resume his career. That move was rejected by Watson, the NFLPA and Robinson.

The league is pushing for the harshest penalty possible in order to set a precedent that violation of this rule will result in at least one year off.  They want to make certain something like this never happens again.

Another possibility is something I wrote about the other day. Splitting the difference between the six games Robinson ruled and the season-long suspension favored by the NFL. Something, say, like 12 games, a compromise by the NFL that was also initially turned down by Watson and the NFLPA.

It is also entirely possible that 12 could be used as a starting point in an effort to the take the six games  to somewhere between eight and 10. At this point, that's just a guess.

Yet another possibility, remote as it seems now with the league challenging Robinson, is Goodell shocks everyone, including 31 of his owners, by agreeing with the ex-judge and letting the initial ruling stand.

The NFLPA, which originally chose not to challenge's Robinson's ruling, will probably become a player if Goodell decides to throw out Robinson's ruling and impose a harsher punishment. The union most likely would file a lawsuit in an effort to settle this thing once and for all in court.

If it goes that far and it sure looks as though it will, it would bring to question why the league hired Robinson in the first place if it disagrees her very first ruling. It would suggest the league expected a lot more than six games.

Right now, this bump in the road is messing with the Browns' plans as they prepare for the 2022 regular season. Jacoby Brissett, per Robinson's ruling, is slated to start the first six games at quarterback before heading to the bench to back up Watson for the remainder of the season.

The front part of the last sentence is chiseled, pending Goodell's ruling. After that, a lot will depend on whether all this eventually hits the courts, delaying Watson's Cleveland debut even further, or is surprisingly settled. It could get messy.

Just give Watson eight or nine games and be done with it. Neither side will be happy, but at least a slice of normalcy will return to Berea. The preceding suggestion falls under the category of wishful thinking.