The Cleveland Browns-Johnny Manziel era is looking more and more likely to be a short lived one.
While that may surprise many on the outside of the Browns building - or not, depending on your pre-draft feelings - there were actually plenty of folks on the inside who believed that Manziel wasn't the quarterback the team should have selected in the first-round of last April's NFL Draft.
"The board in Farmer's office leading up to the draft had three names atop it -- Derek Carr, Teddy Bridgewater and Manziel, in that order, sources said," according to a report from Jason La Canfora of CBS Sports.
Both Bridgewater - who went with the 32nd pick to the Minnesota Vikings - and Carr - who went 36th to the Oakland Raiders - were still on the board when the Browns traded up to the 22nd slot in the first-round with the Philadelphia Eagles, surrendering a third-round pick in the process, to select Manziel.
The organization - specifically part-owner and executive, at the time, Joe Banner and Mike Lombardi - had commissioned a statistical analysis that suggested drafting Bridgewater.
The Browns, of course, ended up selecting Manziel, who had an absolutely abysmal rookie season - finishing with 18 completions on 35 attempts for 175 yards and two interceptions - and has since entered a rehab facility.
Even more troubling for fans of the Browns though, was head coach Mike Pettine's role, or lack thereof, in the decision-making process.
Pettine was "largely a non-factor in the quarterback-drafting decision," per La Canfora, despite the fact that he'd be the one, ya know, tasked with coaching and developing said signal-caller.
"That was a business decision," a team source told La Canfora. "That's on the owner."
Team owner Jimmy Haslam coveted Manziel for the publicity and media attention his drafting would bring the Browns as much, if not more so, than for his perceived football abilities.
Bridgewater (64.4 completion percentage, 14 touchdowns, 12 interceptions) and Carr (58.1 completion percentage, 21 touchdowns, 12 interceptions) of course finished the year as starters for their respective teams and seem well-positioned to enter next season as, at the very least, competent NFL quarterbacks, with the potential to become much more.
Manziel on the other hand, is facing a questionable future both on and off the field after his decision to enter a treatment facility to help curb his alcohol abuse.
