Cleveland Browns planning to part ways with Johnny Manziel in March

The Cleveland Browns are rumored to be planning on parting ways with quarterback Johnny Manziel this March. The team has apparently decided the latest incident involving the former Heisman trophy winner was the last straw in a long line of situations that found the team doubting the maturity of their former 1st round draft pick. These reports come despite the fact that team released a statement on Tuesday that stopped short of saying it was washing its hands of Manziel. The team did say it’s been clear about its expectations of Johnny. It also made it clear it has grown quite tired of the quarterback’s antics.

The clue as to what the Browns are planning was towards the end of the same statement when the team said it would address the issue more when league rules allow it. Those league rules are thought to be when the team can cut the player and not take a massive hit to its payroll cap. Some insiders claim Cleveland would like to cut ties as soon as possible, which would be February 8, one day after the Super Bowl. The problem is that they won’t be able to cut Johnny Manziel until March 9 if they want to avoid a penalty that will put them over the cap.

Cleveland could attempt to trade him starting on March 9, but it doesn’t seem likely there will be an awful lot of takers, considering the number of times the team and the player have butted heads. The quarterback was suspended by the team late in the 2015 season after he missed treatment for a concussion protocol and had a number of photos taken showing him partying when Cleveland thought he was somewhere else. The latest issue, which appears to be the one that convinced the team it needs to say goodbye was when police were called for an alleged assault committed by the former Texas A&M star. While the investigation is still ongoing, the Browns are clearly not happy there’s even a chance Johnny Manziel has found himself more trouble.

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