Questions to ponder while awaiting final ruling on Cleveland Browns' Deshaun Watson case

The conclusion of Deshaun Watson's disciplinary hearing last week merely brought an intermission to the process. There's still a ways to go to a full resolution, at least in terms of the on-the-field part of the story.

The cynical view held by some – likely even many – of a news dump on a late Friday afternoon on a holiday weekend with former Federal judge Sue L. Robinson's final verdict never seemed to gain traction once it was known that post-hearing briefs weren't expected until the week of July 11. That meant the earliest the jointly-appointed disciplinary officer could render a decision against the Browns quarterback would be nearly two weeks later.

All of it centers on any potential personal conduct policy violations by Watson stemming from the 24 initial lawsuits against him alleging sexual misconduct while getting massages. Of those 24, 20 were settled late last month, about a week prior to the start of the NFL disciplinary hearing.

So, after three days of hearings and still days left until a decision, what's left to do is wait. When there's a vacuum of information, the space can rapidly fill with speculation.

What follows isn't so much speculation as it is a bit of thinking out loud. Specifically, it's thinking about some of the questions, both directly involving the decision and indirectly off of it, which can arise.

Let's start with the most important question of them all.

What kind of suspension is Deshaun Watson really facing?

The NFL informed Watson and the NFL Players Association prior to the hearing it was seeking an indefinite suspension, with a year being the minimum. However, coming out of the hearing, published reports opened the door to a belief the punishment could be significantly less.

Pro Football Talk's Mike Florio may have generated the biggest buzz over the weekend with his report which looked at the case the NFL presented to Robinson. Per Florio, the league centered it on five women, but provided no evidence of violence or threats, nor any kind of physical conduct that would constitute assault.

Kareem Hunt update: Cleveland Browns' Kareem Hunt healthy and looking for new deal to remain at home

That could open the door for Robinson to come back with a much less punitive ruling against Watson. While no suspension at all seems a bridge too far to expect, could it produce something as short as a six-game suspension?

Of course, all of that is just guess work considering the wild card in the whole matter, Robinson.

Does the lengthy timeframe really benefit Deshaun Watson, the NFL, or neither?

There's a school of thought that the longer this plays out, the better it is for Watson. There's no actual merit in that thought, but at this point, it's just another angle for speculation.

A lot of that speculation is because of the lack of any concrete case history to fall back on with Robinson. At least, none in her current role with as the disciplinary officer.

There's plenty of case studies out there from Robinson's nearly 30 years on the bench as a member of the U.S. District Court in Delaware. Those, however, are in a different realm than the Watson case.

Or are they? The fact this isn't being accelerated speaks to Robinson's judicial background and likely the desire to craft a decision which is thorough and incorporates all of the many arguments and pieces of evidence that she heard.

That includes the post-hearing briefs, which remain to be filed. Those could only lengthen the process even more, possibly even beyond the start of training camp on July 27.

Speaking of training camp, let's look away from the boardrooms and onto the field for a moment.

Will the Cleveland Browns actually have to address the quarterback position?

Well, yes, they will. Or, it should be said, they did on Wednesday when they finally completed the trade to send Baker Mayfield to the Carolina Panthers.

That solves that dilemma. There remains, however, what happens in the Browns' own quarterback room.

However, the length of Watson's suspension, assuming there is one, would definitely determine the caliber of quarterback the Browns seek out to at least come in for the interim. There's no doubt they will bring in someone to be the fourth quarterback in camp, or at least the third quarterback for the number of games Watson is out.

When the talk was of the potential for a full-year suspension, the talk also centered on a different caliber of quarterback to try to bring in to compete with Jacoby Brissett and Josh Dobbs. Names such as Jimmy Garoppolo or Teddy Bridgewater would come up as potential trade options.

Denzel Ward faces the fans: Young Cleveland Browns fans grill Denzel Ward about Deshaun Watson, Baker Mayfield

If it's just six-to-eight games, the guess is whoever is brought in is more along the lines of a Nick Mullens or Kyle Lauletta. It's a reasonably inexpensive option to fill a stop-gap backup until Watson returns.

Speaking of returns, let's return to one more question directly related to Watson's disciplinary process.

Is it possible Deshaun Watson's final outcome remains undetermined by the start of the regular season?

Well, possibly? Let's just play this out, if you will.

The post-hearing briefs, as mentioned before, aren't due until the week of July 11. Not on July 11, but the week of July 11.

Robinson isn't going to simply breeze through those briefs. She's going to meticulously study them and add them to the pile of things to consider for her decision.

So, you're probably looking at another week after those are filed for her to likely render a decision. Which, of course, isn't the final step in the process.

Unless Robinson hands down no suspension at all, there's going to be an appeal by one side or the other, depending on which way the suspension falls. That appeal would be heard by NFL commissioner Roger Goodell, or one of his designees.

That probably adds a couple of weeks to the process, which now puts you squarely into training camp. Depending on the outcome of the appeal, that could lead to some kind of legal challenge in court, as was the case with Tom Brady and Deflategate.

If that happens, who knows when it could all be decided?

Of course, "who knows" is pretty much the standard response for most questions as the wait goes on for Sue L. Robinson's final decision.

Contact Chris at ceasterling@thebeaconjournal.com.

On Twitter: @ceasterlingABJ

This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Timing for Deshaun Watson decision leaves time for questions