Report: Cowboys Won’t Draft Johnny Manziel, Despite Earlier Speculation

Update:

Jeff Sullivan of DallasCowboy.com, citing the “highest of authorities,” reports that the Cowboys will not Texas A&M QB Johnny Manziel, despite the idea being mentioned earlier this morning.

• Sullivan was reportedly told “absolutely no” when he asked about the idea.

Assuming that this isn’t the Cowboys trying to divert attention away from their draft plans, it looks like Manziel will be playing somewhere other than Dallas.

There was no guarantee that he would even be available to them at No. 16 overall anyways as recent reports and speculation have mentioned that he could go in the top-ten.

We have Manziel going at No. 23 overall to the Cleveland Browns in our most recent 2014 NFL Mock Draft, but we may have to reconsider this for our final update.

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Peter King of MMQB.com is “absolutely” buying the Cowboys’ interest in Texas A&M QB Johnny Manziel.

• King notes that one NFL offensive coordinator recently praised Manziel saying, “If I had the first pick in the draft, I’d take Manziel.”
• King believes that Manziel is “Jerry Jones’s kind of guy” and adds that the Cowboys owner has kept an eye on Manziel this offseason.

Furthermore, King adds that QB Tony Romo‘s twice surgically repaired back could emerge as an issue for the 34-year-old.

You could also add in the uncertainty behind Romo as veteran backup Kyle Orton has yet to show any indication that he’ll report for training camp this year. Dallas has Brandon Weeden behind Orton, so they could probably justify taking a quarterback prospect this year.

However, Cowboys VP Stephen Jones wouldn’t comment on the topic Monday.

“There’s not anything I can say about it,” Jones said, via the Dallas Morning News. “We haven’t quite gotten into sorting out the quarterbacks yet.”

There has been an increasing amount of buzz surrounding Manziel in recent days that it appears as though he could come off the board in the first eight picks. Some have mentioned that the Texans are deliberating between taking Jadeveon Clowney or Manziel with the No. 1 overall selection.

Meanwhile, recent reports have mentioned that the Buccaneers have serious interest in him as well.

The Cowboys chances of taking Manziel probably aren’t that good as it would require him slip to No. 16 overall.