Johnny Manziel’s next stop will be the Canadian Football League.
Manziel, the former Browns draft bust, said in a video distributed by Barstool Sports that he is heading to Canada.
“I am formally signing in the CFL,” he said. “I have decided to sign with the Hamilton Tiger-Cats. I’ll be up here for it looks like two years. I’ll be getting back to playing ball. That’s what I want to do.”
Manziel also said he will have a formal partnership with Barstool Sports in which he’ll do a regular podcast that documents his time in Canada.
CFL rules require a two-year contract, so Hamilton will have Manziel’s rights in 2018 and 2019, and the earliest Manziel could get back to the NFL would be late in the 2019 season, which likely means it would be 2020 at the earliest.
Of course, Manziel’s other option was probably never to play in the NFL again: He wasn’t drawing any NFL interest. If he has two good years in the CFL, perhaps he will.