Just dropping in to comment on this fiasco.
We can be certain the front office knew Watson was into happy massages. They hire people to follow him and know these things. We can't be certain they knew about the assaults. Maybe some girls told them, but we don't know.
We can also be certain these women have no interest in taking this to a criminal court without winning the DW4 litigation sweepstakes. Which is fine, it's their choice on how they get even. But they hold the leverage. The prospect of destroying an NFL star's career through an embarrassing criminal trial should not be expended until you get a house out of it. The reason Watson got a criminal defense attorney is to assess how much leverage the women actually hold.
Many women will try to join the suit, few will get a settlement. All settlements will be determined by the content of the text messages.
The final chapter will look like a combination of Ben Roethlisberger and Michael Vick. Watson will write one-time checks to some accusers, but for the rest of his career he'll be writing checks to women's shelters and sexual assault non-profits. The NFL will capitalize on these "very regretful incidents" to pivot away from social justice messaging to sexual assault awareness because the league very very sincerely believes in this new urgent social cause, and not because they were just looking for any excuse to abandon their previous social cause which may or may not have been impacting ratings.
And by 2023 it'll be mostly forgotten. And like Roethlisberger, I'm betting Watson will remain with his original team, who he'll be immensely grateful to for supporting him through "his very difficult and eye-opening journey."