New Orleans Saints Rumors: Sean Payton Showing An Interest In Johnny Manziel
When teams like the Oakland Raiders and Dallas Cowboys wouldn’t even give troubled quarterback Johnny Manziel a shot, many thought his days in the NFL were over. However, that may not necessarily be the case, as there is always one who is willing to step up and give a player another chance at proving who they are. While it may not be any of the quarterback-hungry teams in the league, the New Orleans Saints are rumored to have an interest in the former Cleveland Brown QB.
The New Orleans Saints would be foolish to part with Drew Brees while he is still playing at a high level, but he only has one year remaining on his contract. Brees is also 38-years-old, and he can’t play forever. As such, the Saints are going to have to look to their future sooner rather than later.
FanSided is reporting that Johnny Manziel could very well be a part of the future in the “Big Easy” as interest is being shown to the young quarterback.
Saints head coach Sean Payton is an offensive-minded guy, and that has been blatantly obvious since he joined the team more than a decade ago. Even when the Saints won the Super Bowl, they had such a strong offense that it didn’t matter that their defense was one of the worst in the league.
At the time, the idea that Payton and the Saints are interested in Manziel is just a rumor, but it is one that was fueled by a conversation during Super Bowl week. It was then that Manziel met with Payton about a return to football, but of course, there has been nothing regarding contract discussions or anything like that.
Sources: #Saints coach Sean Payton & Johnny Manziel were spotted together Super Bowl week, at breakfast. They discussed a return to football
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) March 23, 2017
FA QB Johnny Manziel has kept a low-profile as he trains for a return. #Saints coach Sean Payton appears to have taken an interest in him.
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) March 23, 2017
Still, it is rather interesting that Payton would take “an interest” in the young quarterback who has had troubles stemming back to college and high school. While his talents on the field are to be admired, his problems off the field have been too much for really anyone to even begin to help him.
Off-field troubles are something that the Saints organization have worked on keeping kept to an absolute minimum, and any problem players have been kept out of the locker room. While the brass doesn’t want it, it is Drew Brees that won’t even begin to tolerate it from anyone around him.
Earlier this month, Sporting News reported that two possible landing spots for Manziel could be in New Orleans or with the Green Bay Packers. While neither would bring him a starting opportunity right away, it would give him time to get back in the NFL and learn behind a future Hall of Famer in either Brees or Aaron Rodgers respectively.
As it currently stands, the Saints have young Garrett Grayson and Luke McCown behind Drew Brees on the depth chart. McCown is also past his prime, and Grayson has yet to throw a single pass in a regular season NFL game.
There is no doubt that the backup quarterback position for the Saints needs work, but is Johnny Manziel the answer?
Drew Brees may be approaching 40, but he can still play with and above the best of them. The New Orleans Saints have never really had a player like Johnny Manziel on their roster and might not ever have one. For now, it was just a meeting between the former Cleveland Browns quarterback and Sean Payton, but that meeting has started up a bunch of rumors, and anything can happen when it comes to the NFL.
[Featured Image by Andrew Weber and Jonathan Bachman/Getty Images]
