Johnny Manziel is getting his third shot at professional football and it’s going to be in his third league since leaving Texas A&M. The oft-troubled quarterback has signed the standard football agreement to join the Alliance of American Football. Originally drafted by the Cleveland Browns of the NFL and later a member of the Montreal Alouettes of the Canadian Football League, Manziel is hopeful that he will be able to make this one stick.
ESPN ‘s Adam Schefter reported that Manziel has to go through the AAF waiver system since the San Antonio Commanders released his college allocation rights. The Commanders may take a look at him, but Manziel is likely going to end up being available to the team with the lowest win-loss percentage first.
That being said, the Memphis Express is the team that will get the first shot at him with a current record of 1-5. They have already tried Christian Hackenberg and Zach Mettenberger, but that has brought very little success. Manziel may be the jump-start they need.
A news conference is scheduled for Sunday with Commanders general manager Daryl “Moose” Johnston to speak on the Manziel situation. It is rather unlikely that Manziel will end up in San Antonio, but he will join an AAF team sometime this season.
Johnny Manziel is getting another chance, this time in the AAF ?
?? https://t.co/ZN4Zd15Yps pic.twitter.com/JOw9EsWQxw
— Yahoo Sports (@YahooSports) March 17, 2019
As reported by The Inquisitr , Manziel was released by the Montreal Alouettes of the Canadian Football League just a few weeks ago. There was not a reason given as to why he was released, but it was stated that Manziel “contravened the agreement which made him eligible to play in the league.”
Not only did that take away his opportunity to play for Montreal, but the CFL told all other teams in the league that they would not be allowed to sign the quarterback. If they attempted to do so, the league would not approve the transaction.
As many are waiting to see the full details on Manziel’s release from the CFL, it appears as if that may happen soon. Bill Polian, the AAF Head of Football, said that the league’s “due diligence” with the young quarterback is about halfway complete as of two weeks ago.
Johnny Manziel is just 26-years-old and he’s a former Heisman Trophy winner who appeared to have a great career ahead of him. He went 2-6 as the starting quarterback for the Cleveland Browns after being taken in the 2014 NFL Draft, but off-the-field problems took him out of the league. After his short, but productive, stint in the CFL, he is now heading to the Alliance of American Football and will look to hang on with whichever team picks him up.