Are the Cleveland Browns rethinking the future of Johnny Manziel?
By Thomas Moore
The Cleveland Browns are facing multiple offseason questions, including the future of quarterback Johnny Manziel with the team.
It is safe to say that in just two short years, quarterback Johnny Manziel has become one of the most talked about and most polarizing players the Cleveland Browns have had on their roster since 1999.
The Browns are currently picking through the wreckage of the 2015 season, one that saw the Browns post their 11th double-digit loss season in the past 13 years.
Part of that process involves evaluating players for the 2106 NFL Draft, where the Browns hold the second overall selection and two of the first 32 picks, as well as what changes need to be made to the current roster.
One of the biggest, and certainly what will be one of the most discussed, decisions will revolve around the future of Manziel.
“I want all of our guys to represent themselves well and be responsible in terms of their behavior off the field.” – Sashi Brown
When the season came to a close on Jan. 3, it seemed more than likely that we had seen the last of Manziel in a Cleveland uniform. Manziel had capped off his second season by being missing in action for the weekend’s final game, blowing off a required medical appointment in the process. The Browns were also ready to clean house, and a new coaching staff and front office with no ties to Manziel would seemingly be willing and able to end Manziel’s tenure with the team.
After all, why would a new regime want to tie itself to a quarterback who has only completed 57 percent of his passes, while throwing as many interceptions and touchdowns?
But time has a way of changing people’s perceptions, as the further away the Browns get from the wreckage the more they can look at various situations in an analytical, rather than emotional, fashion.
Which may help explain some interesting comments that owner Jimmy Haslam and executive director of football operations Sashi Brown made this week regarding Manziel’s future with the team.
“We have a certain expectation for our players and that includes Johnny, and he’s got to live up to those expectations.” – Jimmy Haslam
“We want all of our guys to go out and come back in shape and be ready to go,” Brown told cleveland.com. “The thing for him obviously is to demonstrate to teammates, to our fans, and to folks in the building that this is going to be the most important thing in his life. I want all of our guys to represent themselves well and be responsible in terms of their behavior off the field.
“Yea, I think absolutely he’s a got a chance to be here. He’s got a chance to be here.”
Haslam echoed Brown’s comments when asked if there can still be a place for Manziel on the roster.
“I don’t think there’s any question about that,” Haslam said. “I think Johnny made progress on the field last year. I think that’s undeniable. We have a certain expectation for our players and that includes Johnny, and he’s got to live up to those expectations.”
There are two schools of thought in play when looking at the comments from Haslam and Brown.
The first is that Brown is not stupid and realizes there is nothing to be gained by letting on that the Browns are done with Manziel. As unlikely as it is that the Browns could actually receive something in a trade for Manziel, the team doesn’t have to go out of its way to diminish his trade value any more than Manziel already has done on his own.
The second is that the team is taking a clean slate approach to everything and everyone, which could be good news for Manziel. He has no relationship with head coach Hue Jackson and associate head coach-offense Pep Hamilton, and they may be ready to believe that Manziel has changed and that they are the ones that can maximize his abilities.
“It’s my opinion we need a quarterback.” – Hue Jackson
Among the new hires, which also include chief strategy officer Paul DePodesta and vice president of player personnel Andrew Berry, Brown is the only person in the room that knows the full history behind Manziel’s two years with the team. While he will certainly bring Jackson up to speed, Brown may also be inclined to defer to Jackson’s football acumen when it comes to making the decisive call on Manziel.
If that is the case it may not be good news for fans who believe Manziel is the answer, as Jackson has been around long enough to know that what you see is often what you get.
“Obviously we will be able to look into [a] player’s past and see exactly what he’s done because what you see is what you get,” Jackson told 92.3 The Fan. “What’s in there is the same things you’re going to get as you move forward. People don’t change too much that way and it’s going to precede them so we’ll know exactly what the character of that person is.”
We’ve been watching the Browns going on 40 years now and we’re hard pressed to think of many players who have done as much to derail their career as Manziel has done the past two seasons. The only player we can think of is running back Charles White, whose off-the-field issues limited him to just 942 rushing yards in his four seasons with the Browns.
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While White would eventually get his life in order and actually make a Pro Bowl with the Los Angeles Rams in 1987, that was seven years into his career. And that one season was an aberration, as he gained 45 percent of his career yardage and scored 48 percent of his career rushing touchdowns in that one season. And he was out of the league after one more season.
The fear among some fans is that if the Browns move on from Manziel he will blossom with a new team. But the Browns can’t make decisions based on fear, and as the example with White shows, it could take years for a troubled player to finally turn things around (if they ever do).
Despite the comments from Haslam and Brown that there may still be a chance for Manziel to remain a Cleveland Brown in 2016 and beyond, it is still hard to believe from everything else that has gone on that is truly the case, especially when you take the following comment from Haslam into consideration.
“One of the reasons the Browns are in the condition they are is they’ve not drafted well,” Haslam told ohio.com. “Our predecessors didn’t draft well, and we didn’t draft well.”
When he started his biennial rebuilding of the Cleveland Browns, Haslam promised that it is a new day for the franchise.
It remains to be seen if Manziel will be around for it.