NFL Notes: Johnny Manziel, CBA, Steelers, & Titans

Johnny Manziel

Jason La Canfora reports that while Browns QB Johnny Manziel had earned rave reviews for his behavior on and off the field in the early part of the season, he “began to take a turn for the worse” after he lost the starting quarterback job.

According to La Canfora, some within the Browns were actually “bracing for an incident of some sort” involving Manziel, as his attitude and demeanor changed slightly following the decision to reinstate Josh McCown as the starter.

“This kid is such a competitor and he got a taste for it and made some plays and started a game and I think he thought he got the job back,” a team source told La Canfora. “So you had a bad feeling something might be coming and he might slip. I’m not sure he’s wired to be a backup and he had really won people over, but I can’t say it’s a surprise that something like this happened after he ended up back on the bench.”

CBA

According to Ian Rapoport, the NFL and the NFL Players Association could begin discussing a potential extension to the current Collective Bargaining Agreement runs through the 2020 season.

In fact, sources have told Rapoport that talks are almost certain to start before the year is out, and are likely to be prompted by the league.

Among the topics of discussion are Roger Goodell’s role in off-the-field discipline, player development, increasing practice squads, and improving the quality of the game overall.

NFL coaches are reportedly asking for more practices and time to develop younger players. Rapoport mentions that if the NFL were to agree to increase the number of practices, they could also give teams more roster spots on their practice squads.

Another topic likely to be discussed is the reduction of preseason games and increasing the playoffs.

Steelers

• Mark Kaboly of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review writes that even though there’s some question as to whether or not CB Cortez Allen will be back with the Steelers next year, it’s likely he will return next season, given that they have a number of free agents at cornerback, and Allen is under contract.
• According to Kaboly, should the Steelers cut Allen before June 1 of next year, they would incur $4 million in dead money, but also free up $1.7 million in cap space.

Titans

• Ian Rapoport reports that Titans rookie QB Marcus Mariota is expected to return from his MCL sprain in time for next week’s game.