NFL Notes: Johnny Manziel, Carson Wentz, Ezekiel Elliott, & Titans

Johnny Manziel

Rebecca Lopez reports that a judge has signed a protective order keeping Browns QB Johnny Manziel away from his ex-girlfriend for two years and has ordered him to pay $12,000 in legal fees.

Tarrant County Judge stated:”The court finds there is reason to believe that family violence occurred.”

Lopez adds that a protective order issued has been in the Manziel case.

Carson Wentz

Two NFL personnel executives have told Lance Zierlein of NFL Media that North Dakota State QB Carson Wentz is being “way overrated.”

“One said ‘Boy, that North Dakota State kid is way overrated.’ And the other one texted me and said ‘After watching him for a full week, there is no way I would draft Carson Wentz in the first round,'” Zierlein said on The Pick Is In podcast, via NFL.com. “Now, by most media accounts, the draft media, Carson Wentz did just fine. A lot of people called him a winner of draft day. Depends on what you’re looking for. But that’s an example of how people can see these prospects very, very differently.”

Zierlein explained that contrarian views on certain players are bound to come out, especially after someone receives a great deal of coverage like Wentz did at the Senior Bowl

“This is the time where NFL-team guys get a little sick of media hype, and they become contrarian to some extent. At the same time, what they see is, he’s not there right now. They have a hard time with this freight train of enthusiasm surrounding an FCS prospect who still has a lot of work to do,” Zierlein said. “It’s still early to me to say yes or no on a prospect who comes from the background Wentz comes from.”

Ezekiel Elliott

Ohio State RB Ezekiel Elliott mentioned during a recent interview that he wants to play for the Cowboys and their impressive offensive line.

“The Dallas Cowboys (are my pick). I want to go play behind that great offensive line they have down in Dallas,” Elliott said, via NFL.com.

Elliott added that he’s hoping to run the 40-yard dash at the Scouting Combine in the “4.3 range.”

Titans

NFL commissioner Roger Goodell addressed the league’s concerns with the Titans’ ownership group during his press conference on Friday.

“We have ownership policies. Ownership policies are lengthy, but essentially they require a single owner to represent the club locally but also at the league level,” Goodell said, via the Tennessean. “We work on the basis of 32 individual owners, each having a vote and when league matters come up, whatever they may be, we work on a vote of 24 of the 32.

“It’s a very important principle to owners and their partners. They want to know who their partner is. They want to know that they’re responsible for how the team is operated locally and they want to know that their partner is sitting at the table when they’re making difficult decisions.”

Goodell did, however, say that they will continue to work with the Titans regarding their ownership issues.

“We will try to encourage our policies to encourage (single ownership),” Goodell said. “We have to continue to work with the Tennessee ownership group to see how that’s going to conform with our policies. We’ll be meeting with our finance committee in the next few weeks and that’s a subject that will be discussed.”