NFL Notes: Johnny Manziel, Josh Freeman, Chargers

Johnny Manziel

• Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk, citing a league source, reports that free agent QB Johnny Manziel continues to explore all options including the possibility of playing for the CFL and Alliance of American Football.
• According to Florio, the AAF could become a viable option for Manziel, considering that the CFL is requiring that he make a two-year commitment, which would prevent him from returning to the NFL in 2019.
• Florio admits that there’s still a chance that the CFL could change their stance and allow him to leave after one season.
• As of now, there’s reportedly no specific timeline for Manziel to make a decision regarding the CFL.

Josh Freeman

Former Buccaneers QB Josh Freeman is trying out for the Montreal Alloutees this summer in an attempt to resurrect his football career.

“Someone asked me the other day, ‘Dude, are you out of money? Why are you playing in the CFL?’ ” Freeman recently told Rick Stroud of the Tampa Bay Times. “I said, ‘Because I like playing football.‘”

Freeman explained that he misses the competition that comes from playing team sports.

“I mean, you can go to the gym and, like, play basketball as hard as you can,” Freeman said. “But you can’t really compete. You don’t sit and prepare all week to go kick some kid’s [butt] in basketball. What kind of loser is that?”

Chargers

• Eric Williams of ESPN writes that even though the Chargers draft RB Justin Jackson and signed Detrez Johnson as an undrafted free agent, they would like to find someone to spell Melvin Gordon on early downs.
• Williams doesn’t see free agent DT Johnathan Hankins being a good fit for the Chargers’ defensive scheme.
• We have both Anderson and Hankins featured in our Top 50 Available 2018 NFL Free Agents list.