NFL Cleveland Browns

Johnny Manziel is Forcing the Cleveland Browns to Move On

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Bob Donnan-USA TODAY Sports

Bob Donnan-USA TODAY Sports

It’s understandable why Johnny Manziel wouldn’t want to play for the Cleveland Browns – it is the Browns, after all. But at this point in the season, it’s almost as if he’s trying to force his way out of Cleveland.

Despite all of the problems that he’s faced this season, Manziel added to the list after throwing a massive party on Friday night and missing his Saturday morning treatment for his injured hamstring. Not only did he not answer his phone after the team attempted to contact him, but the Browns were even forced to send security officials to Manziel’s home to retrieve the problematic quarterback.

This all came a couple days after Manziel stated that he knew he needed to treat this like a job, and take things more seriously. Apparently, throwing a huge party is how he shows he’s dedicated to getting better. What’s worse, though, is that it took him an entire season to figure that out.

By what we’ve seen from Manziel this season, there’s little reason to believe he has a future in the NFL.

In two starts, Manziel played miserable football, amassing a 42.0 quarterback rating. Both games culminated in losses, including a 0-30 shutout at the hands of the Cincinnati Bengals. Not far into his second start, he hurt his hamstring after taking a big hit and ended up on the Injured Reserve list.

The bigger picture also shows us that it took almost the entire season – and a complete meltdown from Brian Hoyer – for Manziel to even crack the starting lineup. In today’s NFL, most first-round rookie quarterbacks are starters by the time Week 1 rolls around, but Manziel didn’t see significant snaps until Week 13. Even when Hoyer began struggling, the Browns were hesitant to give Johnny Football a chance.

Put simply, this entire season has been a mess.

Between slow development, off-field issues, a distracting social life and pitiful on-field performances, Manziel has given the Browns reason to believe he’s not the franchise quarterback they were desperately hoping for.

So what’s the Browns’ move heading into 2015? Chances are they aren’t going to trade him this offseason, but they have been rumored to be doing their homework on some of the 2015 draft class’ top quarterbacks. They have two first-round picks, so moving up to grab someone like Marcus Mariota isn’t out of the question.

Chances are they won’t re-sign Hoyer, who is set to become a free agent in 2015. So that would leave them with Manziel and undrafted rookie Connor Shaw as their top two quarterbacks. While signing a veteran would obviously be ideal, drafting yet another quarterback wouldn’t be crazy considering what the Browns have seen from Manziel this season.

Either way, it’s safe to assume the Browns are considering all of their options at quarterback. If they were to move on from Manziel already, it would be far from a surprise.

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