The new of Hue Jackson becoming head coach of the Browns had barely started making its way through the Twittersphere Wednesday when Mike Garafolo of FOX Sports 1 tweeted that he’s been told Jackson “made it clear” in his discussions with the Browns that he wanted the team to move on from Johnny Manziel.
The No. 22 pick in the 2014 NFL Draft, Manziel showed on-field progress in 2015 for the Browns but has been an off-field disaster.
A big part of the reason Jackson becomes the Browns’ eighth full-time coach since the team’s return to the league in 1999 is the Browns really haven’t had a quarterback in 25 years, at least not one who played well for more than a couple months at a time.
Though Garafolo was simply tweeting what had been passed to him through either a source at the Browns or someone close to Jackson, Manziel has been polarizing and disappointing enough that it’s easy to believe a discussion of his status would have been a key part of the interview process. The Browns held a second interview with Jackson on Tuesday, and in accepting the job Wednesday he decided not to wait for a scheduled Thursday interview with the Giants.
Ian Rapoport of NFL Network later sent a tweet echoing Garafolo’s, saying he expects the Browns to move on from Manziel.
The Browns have the No. 2 pick in the 2016 draft and also have quarterbacks Josh McCown, Austin Davis and Connor Shaw under contract as they go forward.