Johnny Manziel Released by the Cleveland Browns, What Year Does He Return to the NFL?

Johnny Manziel has been released by the Cleveland Browns, a move that has been coming for months. To put it mildly, his NFL experiment has been a disaster. It didn’t help he was drafted by Cleveland, one of the most inept franchises in the history of sports, but Manziel’s rookie year went poorly, and ended with him throwing a kegger and forgetting to show up for work.

Then, he went to rehab.

Within months he was day drinking and having off-the-field dust-ups.

Last season, Manziel understandably started in coach Mike Pettine’s doghouse, but when he emerged from it after starter Josh McCown was injured, the Texas A&M star was terrific against Tennessee. But the Browns re-inserted a healthy McCown, and Johnny did very little after that until November, when he threw for 372 yards in a loss at Pittsburgh. He ended the season by showing up drunk to practice, according to a report.

Manziel’s 2-year numbers (14 games): 57 percent completions, 6.49 yards-per-attempt, 7 TDs, five interceptions, and six fumbles. His QB rating was 79.4, and he rushed for 230 yards. Not nearly what many expected from the 1st round pick.

The guess here: He’s out of football next season, and assuming he doesn’t get in trouble off the field – something that seems impossible right now – maybe Manziel gets a shot to make a roster in 2017 when he’s 24 1/2 years old and maybe the light has gone on that it’s time to grow up and curtail the partying if he wants to make a career out of this football thing.