Johnny Manziel’s first Canadian Football League season wasn’t great. He was traded to Montreal after failing to win the starting job in Hamilton, and finished the year with five touchdowns and seven interceptions playing on his second team.
But Manziel says he’s happy with how things worked out.
“I’m happy here right now,” Manziel said. “Football probably got to a point in the past for me where it was about money and I’m comfortable right now. I’m comfortable with a great group of teammates, I’m comfortable in a great city like Montreal. I’m happy being back on the field and I don’t know if that would be the situation in another league. But I’m happy with where I’m at and what’s going on and the opportunity to compete and play ball.”
Manziel may be happy, and he sounds ready to return to Montreal next year to fulfill his two-year contract. But if his goal is to get back to the NFL eventually, he’s going to need to be a lot better in 2019. CFL stats aren’t perfectly analogous to NFL stats, but suffice to say five touchdowns and seven interceptions is not good. Statistically, he ranked near the bottom among the CFL’s starting quarterbacks.
“It’s been a good learning experience,” Manziel said. “I’m understanding what this league is about scheme-wise and learning a lot of things I didn’t know before. So great learning experience and I’m really looking forward to being able to piece that all together.”
Manziel will now have about six months off before CFL training camps are slated to open in mid-May.