Houston Texans quarterback Deshaun Watson is currently facing seven lawsuits alleging sexual assault. The total number of complaints against the National Football League (NFL) star will increase to 12,  according to Tony Buzbee, who is representing the accusers.

During a press conference on Friday, Buzbee said he will file the additional five sexual assault lawsuits against Deshaun Watson "in due course" after conducting "due diligence."

Buzbee said he spoke to "more than 10 additional women" who came forward accusing the Houston Texan quarterback of sexual harassment and assault. Overall, 22 women reported that they experienced similar inappropriate conduct toward them by Deshaun Watson, according to the lawyer.

Additionally, Buzbee said they tried to resolve the allegations against Deshaun Watson without any publicity or lawsuit. However, his agent "minimized" the accusations and "did not take them seriously."

"We wanted to resolve this matter without a lawsuit, without any publicity. We knew that once we filed a lawsuit -- Texas, of course, has an open courts provision in the constitution, so all lawsuits are public. We wanted to avoid that. What we receive instead of cooperation with Mr. Watson's agent was dismissive behavior and frankly incredible arrogance even after we had discussions with Mr. Watson's lawyer at the time," said Buzbee.

Deshaun Watson rejected a "baseless six-figure settlement demand"

Rusty Hardin, the attorney representing Deshaun Watson, issued a statement in response to Buzbee.

Hardin said the allegations against his client are "meritless." He added, "However, we will wait to comment in detail until we've completed our review of the numerous, evolving allegations from Mr. Buzbee. We will respond next week and ask you to keep an open mind until we do so."

On Tuesday, Deshaun Watson tweeted that he became aware of the sexual assault allegations against him through a social media post by a "publicity-seeking plaintiff's lawyer."

The Houston Texans quarterback added that he hadn't seen the lawsuit and denied the accusations against him. He wrote, "I have never treated any woman with anything other than the utmost respect."

Deshaun Watson added that he "quickly rejected" Buzbee's "baseless six-figure settlement demand" before filing the lawsuit.

Furthermore, he wrote, "Unlike him, this isn't about money for me- it's about clearing my name, and I look forward to doing that."

pic.twitter.com/ZVb2R2mFlc

— Deshaun Watson (@deshaunwatson) March 17, 2021

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