Could Manziel Yet Be A Texan?
 

It's not as far-fetched as it sounds.

If the Texans decide Mallett and Savage are not the answer and that none of the QBs in this year's draft are all that appealing, I can see the Texans making an offer to the Browns for Manziel.

Why would the Browns do it? It seems Brian Hoyer is making the Browns a credible team. Cleveland is entertaining the thought of signing Hoyer to a contract extension which means no room for Johnny Football who is not going to be Aaron Rodgers and quietly wait his turn.

The Texans, meanwhile, may decide Jamais Winston is just as big a risk as Manziel, may decide Brett Hundley isn't a top-flight starting QB and may not be able to get at Mariota. If their current options aren't appealing, the thought of luring Manziel back to Aggieland may be too tempting to pass up.

The Browns will probably want our first-rounder and I will probably still want Cousins instead. The only problem I see with this scenario is that Manziel is too short to be O'Brien's sort of quarterback.

I am not against this and don't think it's entirely far fetched, but I don' think the Browns will get a 1st rounder from anyone. Manziel was only a low first a year ago, and he likely damaged his stock since then with the off field antics and limited on field performance. Not to mention the Browns are not dealing from a position of strength since the whole league knows they are forced into this move if they want to sign Hoyer long term. I would guess whoever trades for him sends a conditional pick(s). Like a 2015 2nd or 3rd and a conditional 2016 pick that depends on the number of snaps he plays and could go as high as another 2nd/3rd.

You could be right. If the price goes down, that will make it all the easier to pull the trigger on a deal.

He'll have to get in line. We haven't had time to bitch about Mallet and Savage, yet.... :p

You want a guy that can't beat out Hoyer? He even had the advantage of being a 1st round pick and couldn't grab the reigns.

I'd rather roll the dice with Winston.

Same maturity problems, better NFL potential, IMHO.

Way different maturity problems. Manziel had a fake ID and signed some autographs. Winston had shoplifting, multiple run ins with police, rape investigation that still hasn't entirely gone away, and the loud table top misogyny.

Winston is bigger and more likely to play 16 games. Aside from that I'd give every nod to Manziel. I don't think I want either of them, but I don't want any of the other guys coming out/available either.

I'd rather have Manziel than Winston but that's like saying I'd rather have gonorrhea than syphilis.

I don’t see a trade for Johnny happening since the Texans probably could have moved up from #33 to get him in the draft if they’d wanted to (it cost the Browns #26 and the 3rd rounder that the Texans ended up getting to take Nix). O’Brien said later that there wasn’t any debate about trading up for him. The Browns also may not be in a big rush to get rid of him, remembering when they thought the Hoyer-like Derek Anderson was “the guy,” although the leadership in Cleveland has turned over several times since then. And under the current CBA, even though Johnny was a first-rounder he’s not eating up a big chunk of cap space. I’d be interested for the right price but I don’t think O’Brien would be.

I can’t see the Texans (McNair especially) wanting any part of Winston. It’s unlikely he’ll be prosecuted for sexual assault, possibly due to the police at best mishandling or at worst hindering the investigation, but he could still face university discipline. And with all that still going on, in the midst of the Ray Rice furor, he does the student union thing, seemingly totally oblivious to how that would look.

I haven’t seen much of Hundley but I know he’s taken a lot of sacks and there’s been talk that he holds the ball way too long. Not exactly a trait of successful NFL QBs. The more Cousins plays, the less he looks like a potential quality NFL starter.

It looks like Cleveland has over 20 mil cap space so they can easily keep both QB and even sign some other high impact player.

If Manziel demands out likely that lowers trade value even further.

I'd like to see Mallett and Savage some at some point when clear out of playoffs.

Maybe anything possible but unlikely Manziel to Texans is my thinking.

They may have believed that he or Bridgewater would fall through the first round for them and gambled a trade-up would not be necessary. They sure spent a lot of time pre-draft studying him when they had a 1-1. Maybe that was just to pacify the Aggie faithful or energize the local media but we sure saw lots of stories how the Texans should take him.

McNair doesn't seem worried about attendance however.

They CAN easily keep both, but Manziel is the last thing you want in a backup. You want your backup to keep his head down and chart plays, stay ready, and be a pro. You don't want him to be a star, a distraction, or competition if you have anointed someone else your starter. If Cleveland signs Hoyer to a long term extension (he's a FA next year and the price tag keeps going up right now), then no way do they want Johnny around.

The QBs the team has reportedly shown (or have rumored) interest in since O'Brien was hired:

Ryan Fitzpatrick
Ryan Mallett
Matt Barkley
Blake Bortles
Jimmy Garoppolo
Tom Savage

Varying degrees of interest in each QB, of course.

I don't think Manziel fits this O'Brien profile. He's neither big-bodied nor keen for decision-making.

There were also rumors that the Texans were interested in Matt Cassel before he re-signed with the Vikings, and that the second stop on Josh McCown’s free agent tour would have been Houston if he'd left Tampa without a contract.

Of the Cleveland QBs, Hoyer is probably the one more likely to be a Texan, although that's a longshot too. He’ll be a free agent at the end of this season and has said that while he’d love to stay in his hometown, he wants to be a starter. I doubt the Browns let him hit the open market unless his play takes a sharp turn for the worse, but he did begin his NFL career in New England under O’Brien.

Garoppolo and Barkley are 6' 2" vs Manziel's 6'. Neither are considered big bodied by anyone. Fitzpatrick is also only 6' 2" and he has 99 INTs and 33 fumbles in 90 career games. Nobody would describe Fitzpatrick as big bodied or keen for decision making. I don't think anyone would consider Mallett, or Savage keen for decision making for that matter.

None of that changes the fact that O'Brien could have had Manziel and chose not too (twice really). I just don't think it is accurate to put that list up and claim that it shows keen decision making and big bodied are keys of O'Brien's.

Who are these coaches that don't prefer a big QB? Payton because of Brees? Carroll because of Wilson? I highly doubt they don't prefer big QBs. They just made an exception when the right guy came along. I'd be willing to wager $50 that Payton's next QB is over 6'2".

I used "nor", not "and". Of course those guys are not big bodied. I never meant to suggest as much in my post earlier. That list was intended to show the types of (then available) QBs in which O'Brien had reported interest.

I harken back to the qualities O'Brien said he wanted in a QB back in this video.

The big bodied talk came following his reported interest in Bortles and Mallett. The list here says smart decision makers. And none of it really suggests Manziel in my estimation, same as it didn't pre-draft, either.

Based on this past weekend's performances and results, both Hoyer and Cousins are going to be available next offseason for really cheap, if not for free. Without a running game to prop him up, Hoyer is just a guy. Cousins doesn't even look like that. I highly doubt CLE trades Johnny until after next year and only if things go sour with him.