Attorney Tony Buzbee says 20 of 24 lawsuits filed against Cleveland Browns QB Deshaun Watson settled

Cleveland Browns quarterback Deshaun Watson has settled all but four of the lawsuits filed against him, attorney Tony Buzbee said in a statement on Tuesday.

Since March 16, 2021, 25 lawsuits were filed against Watson, alleging inappropriate behavior and sexual assault during massage sessions. Of those 25, one was dropped by the plaintiff when the judge ruled her petition had to be amended with her name. The other 20, Buzbee said, have been settled.

«We are working through the paperwork related to those settlements,» Buzbee said in a statement. «Once we have done so, those particular cases will be dismissed. The terms and amounts of the settlements are confidential. We won't comment further on the settlements or those cases.»

Buzbee noted that Ashley Solis, the first woman to file a lawsuit against Watson and the first to speak publicly and identify herself as a plaintiff, is not one of the 20 women to settle.

"… Ashley Solis is one of the heroes of this story. Her case has not settled and thus her story and that of the other three brave women will continue. I look forward to trying these cases in due course, consistent with other docket obligations and the court's schedule," he said.

Though two grand juries in Texas declined to pursue criminal charges against Watson earlier this year, the NFL is investigating whether he violated its code of conduct, and the league interviewed the quarterback in person last month as part of its investigation. At the league's spring meeting, commissioner Roger Goodell said he thought the NFL was nearing the end of its investigation but couldn't give a timeline for when a ruling might be made.

Buzbee said in his statement that without Solis' «courage and willingness to come forward, the NFL