Johnny Manziel will have to transform into the kind of constant presence around the team facility that Andy Dalton and Carson Palmer were under Hue Jackson with the Bengals and Raiders, respectively, per Albert Breer of NFL.com, if he’s to have any shot at staying with the Browns and competing for a job.
Jackson, understandably, prefers quarterbacks who make the team’s headquarters their home during the offseason. These characteristics are essentially the antithesis of Manziel’s behavioral pattern since arriving in Cleveland, and Jackson’s all-out interest in making the quarterback the fulcrum of the team’s progress will probably be spent on someone who isn’t on the Browns yet.
“[Jackson] changed Andy’s routine to get him around us more and around the other offensive players more,” a Bengals coach told Breer, before adding how Jackson pushed to get the game plan to Dalton early in the week, “so he could talk through it in more detail. Then, he pushed [Dalton] to meet separately with other skill guys and some offensive linemen to get them on the same page as him.”
Here are some more details on Manziel and some of the rest of the AFC franchises.
- In an appearance on Jay Mohr’s Fox Sports Radio show earlier tonight, an initial filibuster from new Browns chief strategy officer Paul DePodesta on whether Manziel would be on the team next year turned into the former baseball exec offering a “pass” as a response, Mary Kay Cabot of the Cleveland Plain Dealer relays. The comedian gave DePodesta yes, no or pass options, and after insisting he choose one after three initial responses, DePodesta said, “pass.” Obviously not a hard answer on the scrutinized ex-first-rounder, but signs continue to point Manziel away from Cleveland.
- Derek Wolfe admitted he took “a big cut” compared to what he could have received on the open market in order to stay with the Broncos, Mike Klis of 9News reports. “I don’t really do this for the money. The money is great but you do it to win. That’s why I took a little bit of a haircut to stay here. I took a big cut. But you do it if you want to stay with the No. 1 defense,” said Wolfe in describing the process that went into his signing of a four-year, $36.7MM deal with the Broncos last Friday. In disclosing the terms of Wolfe’s full deal, Klis reports the defensive end will earn base salaries of $4.5MM in 2016, $5.5MM in ’17, $8MM in ’18 and $8MM in ’19, the latter two figures not guaranteed. Wolfe’s largest cap number in this deal will, as of now, loom in 2018, when he’s set to count $9.55MM against the Broncos’ cap.
- Jaguars senior offensive assistant Frank Scelfo‘s accepted a position at the University of Texas-San Antonio, where he’ll become the Roadrunners’ offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach, Bruce Feldman of Fox Sports reports (on Twitter). Scelfo coached the Jags’ QBs in 2013-14 before assuming the senior offensive assistant title last season. He served as the OC for Tulane and Louisiana Tech from 1999-2009.
- Gus Bradley leaned on Monte Kiffin to help make the decision to promote Todd Wash to defensive coordinator, Vito Stellino of the Florida Times-Union reports. The retired Kiffin still serves as a consultant to the Jaguars and Bradley, whom he hired in Tampa Bay when he was the Buccaneers’ DC.
- Adam Gase has shown patience while sorting out his staff as holdovers decide whether to stay or go, according to Breer, who adds that sort of approach runs counter to the tumult that permeated through the Dolphins‘ facilities last season.