Browns To Cut Johnny Manziel At Start Of New League Year

Update:

Ian Rapoport of NFL Media reports that the Browns will cut QB Johnny Manziel when the new league year begins on March 9.

According to Rapoport, league rules prevent the Browns from cutting Manziel until next week at the earliest.

The Browns have $20 million in cap space for 2015, which will be carried over to 2016. However, Manziel’s guarantees need space to be absorbed in 2015 and they currently have no cap space, which explains why they plan to wait for the new league year.

On March 9th, Cleveland can cut Manziel and take a cap hit of $4,333,487, according to Joel Corry. Manziel’s 2017 salary guarantee will immediately hit their salary cap.

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Cleveland Browns VP of Football Operations Sashi Brown released a statement Tuesday regarding the off-the-field incidents involving QB Johnny Manziel, saying that they plan to address his status with team once the league rules permit.

“We’ve been clear about expectations for our players on and off the field. Johnny’s continual involvement in incidents that run counter to those expectations undermines the hard work of his teammates and the reputation of our organization. His status with our team will be addressed when permitted by league rules. We will have no further comment at this time.”

Over the weekend, police were called in to check on a “dispute” between Manziel and his ex-girlfriend early Saturday morning.

While the woman was reportedly uncooperative at the scene, she expressed concern for Manziel’s well-being, which led to Fort Worth police using a helicopter to search for Manziel.

Fort Worth police attempted to call Manziel and searched for him around the city before it was later determined by officers that he was safe and wasn’t in danger.

The NFL is currently looking into Manziel and the situation.

All indications are that the Browns will move on from the former first-round pick at some point this offseason.

Manziel, 23, is in the second year of his four-year, $8,247,250 rookie contract that included $6,702,625 guaranteed. He’ll make a base salary of $794,936 this season and another $1,169,872 in 2016.

This season, Manziel appeared in nine games and thrown for 1,500 yards while completing 57.8 percent of his passes to go along with seven touchdowns and five interceptions. Manziel has also ran for 230 yards. Pro Football Focus has him rated as the No. 31 quarterback out of 36 qualifying players.

We’ll have more regarding Manziel as the news is available.