Cleveland Browns QB Deshaun Watson says he was surprised by allegations and is innocent

BEREA, Ohio — Deshaun Watson said that he's never disrespected women and that he was surprised by the allegations of sexual assault and inappropriate conduct that have been made against him.

«I know these allegations (are) very, very serious,» Watson said. «But I've never assaulted any woman. I never disrespected any woman.»

The Cleveland Browns introduced Watson as their new starting quarterback on Friday in a press conference.

On March 18, the Browns landed Watson in a trade with the Houston Texans before signing him to a new five-year contract worth $230 million guaranteed, the most guaranteed money on a single contract in NFL history by $80 million.

The Browns traded for Watson while he still faces civil lawsuits from 22 women, who have accused him of sexual assault and inappropriate conduct. The attorney for the plaintiffs, Tony Buzbee, told ESPN that the Browns never reached out to him or spoke to any of his clients during their investigation, which the Browns have called «extensive.»

Cleveland general manager Andrew Berry said that legal counsel advised the team against contacting the women directly «out of concern it would be considered interfering with a criminal investigation.» Berry said the team did use independent investigators, but would not say whether those investigators contacted the women.

«I'll say the investigators that we hired were able to get a full perspective of all the cases,» Berry answered. «I'm not going to go into necessarily the details of everything the investigators did, but they got a full perspective for all the criminal and civil cases.»

On Thursday, a second grand jury in Texas declined to indict Watson after considering an accusation of sexual misconduct, the Brazoria County District