The Cleveland Browns don’t want Johnny Manziel on their roster for a few very good reasons. He causes trouble, costs a lot of money and isn’t really that good at football.
The Browns have had a chance to release Manziel for all these reasons but so far have not. Why? Because they’re hoping that in spite of all that some poor team will agree to give up something of value for the beleaguered quarterback.
Here’s how Cleveland.com explains the situation:
The Browns hung onto Manziel on the chance that a team offers them a conditional late-round pick for him. The first day of free agency is such a frenzied period that teams have to focus on signing and re-signing free agents.
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But as many as three teams might be interested in Manziel, a source said, and that’s enough for the Browns to give it a day or two to see if anyone bites.
If they felt there was no interest, they would’ve waived him Wednesday and put the ugly saga behind them. But if a team trades for Manziel, it would assume the remainder of his contract. He has guaranteed base salaries in 2016 and 2017 of $1,169,872 and $1,004,125, and is due a $250,000 roster bonus on the fifth league day of 2017.
On one hand, it can’t hurt for the Browns to shop Manziel around and see if anyone makes an offer before they release him. On the other hand, do they really expect another team to sacrifice a draft pick for an overpaid backup quarterback with as many career interceptions as touchdowns and as many off-field issues as any player in the league?
Most likely, the Browns leaked the fact that three teams are interested in trading for Manziel in hopes of getting a team to panic and trade for the QB. When that doesn’t happen, Cleveland will release him and move on to the next overrated quarterback who will try and fail to lead them to glory.