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DJ Bien-AimeESPN
HOUSTON — The Houston Texans will forfeit their original fifth-round selection in the 2023 NFL draft and have been fined $175,000 for a salary-cap reporting violation involving former quarterback Deshaun Watson, the NFL announced Thursday.
Following a review, the NFL determined that the Texans provided Watson with undisclosed compensation in the form of a membership at an alternative athletic facility during the COVID pandemic in 2020.
The Texans paid $26,777 for Watson to train at an unspecified nearby facility while theirs was closed during the pandemic.
According to the collective bargaining agreement, teams must report any player compensation or benefit. The Texans believe the payment didn’t provide any salary-cap advantage and viewed it as an accounting error.
“The club has fully cooperated with the league in its investigation of these matters and maintains that it had no intention to circumvent any salary cap rules or gain any sort of competitive advantage,” the Texans said in a statement. “While we disagree with the league’s ruling, we will accept the imposed discipline and move forward.”
The NFL originally had taken a fourth-round pick from the Texans and fined them $250,000, but that penalty was reduced upon appeal, sources told ESPN’s Adam Schefter.
The Texans now have 10 picks in this year’s NFL draft, including the Nos. 2 and 12 overall selections that they received as part of the trade that sent Watson to the Cleveland Browns in March 2022.
Following that deal, the Browns signed Watson to a five-year, $230 million contract.
He was suspended for 11 games for violating the league’s personal conduct policy by committing sexual assault, as defined by the NFL, on massage therapists. He was also fined $5 million and has had to take part in the mandatory treatment program.
He was accused by more than two dozen women of sexual assault and other sexual misconduct during massage sessions before he sat out the entire 2021 season. Over the summer, he agreed to settle 23 of the 24 civil lawsuits against him. Two lawsuits against him remain outstanding, including one filed on Oct. 13. Two other women filed criminal complaints against Watson but did not sue him.
ESPN’s Jake Trotter contributed to this report.