It’s not enough.

It’s not nearly enough.

A suspension of 11 games this season – he returns for a game against his former team, the Texans, in Houston, no less; how nice of everyone to work out a made-for-TV sports moment as he returns to the scene of the crime, don’t ya think? – and a fine of $5 million, as agreed upon after negotiations between the NFL and the NFL Players Association, may sound like a lot of punishment, but, given the scope of the crimes allegedly committed by Browns quarterback Deshaun Watson, it really isn’t. It’s a veritable slap on the wrist.

I don’t care about the fine – that’s chump change for a guy who just signed a fully-guaranteed $230 million contract – but I do care about the number of games, and 11 are not enough. He should get at least a full year – all 17 games – and if he behaves, and only if he behaves fully, then he could be considered for reinstatement for next season.

That’s what should have happened.

And how did the people involved come up with 11 games, anyway? Who knows?

There are a lot of questions here, none of which will ever be answered.

I don’t think Watson has learned a thing to this point, or will learn anything going forward. I hope – for his sake and that of others around him – that I am dead wrong and he has indeed had an awakening that will change his life for the better. I will believe it when I see it, though.

That’s the gist of what happened.

And it’s a shame.

The Browns are worse for having gone through this nightmare, and continuing to go through it, and so is the NFL.

It was a black eye when the news first broke about Watson’s misdeeds, and it still is – only bigger and uglier.

We know that all too well, don’t we?

Steve King