It’s been more than a year since we last saw Cleveland Browns quarterback Deshaun Watson throw a football, but he never faded from the picture due to his off-field controversies. Over the last five years, multiple cases have been filed against him by women, accusing him of sexual misconduct. Now, a significant development has emerged regarding the final two cases that could change the entire narrative heading into the new season.

According to USA Today, only two civil lawsuits against Watson were still active heading into 2026, both of which were scheduled to go to trial, one this month and the other next, but neither will now reach a courtroom. The two women involved dismissed their cases before trial dates arrived, bringing an end to the remaining litigation.

Since 2021, 27 women have filed civil lawsuits against Watson, all accusing him of sexual misconduct. Those two recently dismissed cases were the final ones left, while the plaintiffs resolved 24 other lawsuits through confidential settlements, and another was withdrawn shortly after being filed.

With their dismissal on January 6, Watson is no longer facing active civil claims tied to those allegations. While no details were disclosed, the expectation around the league is that these cases, like most of the others, were settled. Attorney Tony Buzbee represented nearly all of the plaintiffs, including one of the two women who were involved in the final cases.

The allegations across the lawsuits were centered on massage sessions that took place in 2020 and early 2021, when Watson was still with the Texans, and the team also reached its own settlements with women who accused the organization of enabling Watson’s behavior or failing to intervene.

“Case is settled,” Buzbee said this week. “That’s all I can say about it. That’s the last case, so that ends my involvement with Deshaun Watson litigation.”

Watson has consistently denied wrongdoing and maintained the idea that some encounters were consensual, but the league saw it a little differently after its own investigation, suspending him for 11 games in 2022. Despite his off-field issues, the Texans ended up trading him to the Browns in one of the most lucrative deals in NFL history, with $230 million guaranteed.

With the lawsuits behind him, Watson can now focus on his recovery, but the Browns haven’t gotten their money’s worth yet, as injuries have kept him off the field.

When will Deshaun Watson return?

Now with the lawsuits behind him, Deshaun Watson has the opportunity to completely focus on his recovery and focus on his recovery and living up to his massive contract. After suffering an Achilles injury in October 2024 and being sidelined from 10 games that year, he still hasn’t seen the field.

He underwent surgery in early 2025, which was the second one since the rupture. Including the 11-game suspension along with the injury, he has only appeared in 19 games for the team, which includes the eight games he missed in 2023 due to a shoulder injury.

His limited action in 2024 yielded just five touchdowns against three interceptions before he was sidelined. While the team opened his 21-day practice window in December, signaling a potential return, he was not activated, leaving his comeback timeline uncertain.

The return, at least internally, is viewed as a matter of when rather than if, and new head coach Todd Monken hasn’t hidden his interest in seeing what Watson can become with a clean slate.

“You’ve got two young players who still have a long way to go in terms of development, and that’s just part of the learning curve in the NFL,” Monken said. “Then you have a player like Deshaun, who is coming back from injury and was once a Pro Bowl player and an elite player in this league. We would love to tap back into that.”

He had a 33-touchdown season before coming to the Browns, but he has yet to reach that potential. Whether Monken can coax it out remains one of the central questions hanging over the franchise, especially after Browns owner Jimmy Haslam publicly called the trade a “big swing-and-miss.”