Johnny Manziel To Be Dumped By The Cleveland Browns After All? [Video]
Johnny Manziel has spent the last couple of months in rehab, presumably to work through personal issues and re-commit to the Cleveland Browns 100 percent. Unfortunately for Manziel, the Browns may already be 90 percent prepared to move on from him. These were the words of ESPN‘s Chris Mortensen, who appeared on the Mike & Mike show.
“I think about 90 percent [the Browns] have moved on [from Manziel] in their own minds except that they really don’t know who they’re going to get when Johnny leaves rehab.”
It’s believed that the player known as “Johnny Football” will be exiting rehab within the next few days.
Rumors that Cleveland are looking to get rid of or replace Manziel have existed since before the end of his disastrous rookie season. And with him being so far removed from the team during a good portion of the off-season, it only makes sense for the Browns to plan around him. Mortensen claims that at this point, Johnny didn’t even qualify as an “afterthought.”
“The bottom line is that Johnny Manziel’s future with the Browns has been in question. When they were putting together half of a new offensive staff, Manziel’s name barely even came up in conversation.”
If the Cleveland Browns are ready to move on from the young quarterback, exactly who they are prepared to move on to? Johnny Manziel was acquired by the franchise with the hopes that the dazzling college quarterback would be a marked improvement over Brian Hoyer.
But both quarterbacks failed to deliver, and ultimately, the Browns exited playoff contention within the last couple of games of the 2014-15 regular season. Hoyer is now with the Houston Texans, and Manziel has been in rehab this whole time. It’s a situation that would certainly force the issue of needing and preparing to get a solid new quarterback within the Browns’ ranks.
Latest report suggests the Browns have all but moved on from Johnny Manziel: http://t.co/Wzc7erGly3 pic.twitter.com/NAFVV94SJU
— NFLonCBS (@NFLonCBS) April 2, 2015
The rumor mill is already declaring that the Browns may have taken a strong interest in Heisman winner Marcus Mariota. By all accounts, Mariota is the “Anti-Johnny Football”: a humble, hard-working, talented quarterback who is known for his level-headedness rather than partying, drinking, and causing controversies. Mariota would most likely be a welcome change from Manziel for the franchise and its fans. However, is it too early to count Manziel out?
Johnny didn’t just go to rehab, he appears to have made a sincere effort to make the stay work for him. He didn’t go “for show” and then check out a week or two later. He seems to have taken the time to get himself together as a person and athlete. He just may have the potential to surprise both fans and critics next season. It’s just a matter of whether or not the Cleveland Browns will be 100 percent moved on from Johnny Manziel by then.
Do you think Johnny Manziel has a future at the Cleveland Browns, or is the franchise making room for a new star quarterback (Marcus Mariota)?
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