CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Johnny Manziel's latest incident in Texas over the weekend -- in which police searched for him via helicopter and are investigating him for possibly assaulting his ex-girlfriend -- was the absolute last straw for the Browns.
They will cut him as soon as they can -- when the league year opens March 9 -- league sources told cleveland.com.
Of course, if a team is willing to give up a late-round pick for Manziel, they'll take it. But they certainly aren't expecting that to happen, especially not after the bizarre events of the past few months. In addition to the police probe, the NFL is investigating him for the second time in three months for allegations that he assaulted a woman.
"He's a train wreck,'' a source close to Manziel all season told cleveland.com.
Browns Executive Vice President Sashi Brown -- who spent time studying North Dakota State quarterback Carson Wentz and others at the Senior Bowl last week -- made it perfectly clear in a statement Tuesday that the Brown are done with Manziel. It's over. They've had enough.
"We've been clear about expectations for our players on and off the field," Brown said. "Johnny's continual involvement in incidents that run counter to those expectations undermines the hard work of his teammates and the reputation of our organization. His status with our team will be addressed when permitted by league rules. We will have no further comment at this time.''
The waiver wire officially opens Monday, but the Browns have to wait until March 9 to waive him because they rolled all of their 2015 cap space -- $20 million of it -- into next season and don't have the room to absorb the cap hit until then. Manziel is still owed about $4.624 million by the Browns, the remainder of the guaranteed money he received when he was drafted No. 22 overall in 2014.
Manziel signed a four-year deal worth $8,248,596, including $7,998,596 guaranteed. In the off chance that a team claims him on waivers or trades for him, they would pick up his 2016 and 2017 base salaries of $1,169,872 and $1,294,808.
But at this point, it's highly unlikely a team would take a chance on him, given his current state of mind and string of transgressions. Cowboys owner Jerry Jones wanted to draft him, and word out of Dallas is that he still loves him. But the Cowboys have no late-round draft picks left and would probably only take a chance on him as a free agent -- if that.
The Browns were actually effectively done with Manziel the final week of the season when he flew to Las Vegas just two days after being ruled out of the season finale with a concussion. According to USA Today, Manziel wore a blond wig and fake mustache and went by the name of Billy so he wouldn't be recognized.
The day of the season-ending 28-12 loss to the Steelers, Manziel missed his concussion treatment and was ultimately fined. The club couldn't reach him all day and didn't know where he was. As the day wore on, they grew increasingly miffed by another huge embarrassment to the club. Those close to Manziel also couldn't locate him that day.
Manziel finally showed up the day after the season -- a day after coach Mike Pettine and general manager Ray Farmer were fired -- but the Browns gave him the cold shoulder, league sources said. Owner Jimmy Haslam was busy addressing the team and introducing Brown, the new football boss.
When the Browns interviewed coach Hue Jackson, he made it clear that he wanted to move on from Manziel, and the club didn't argue. By that time, they had already come to the conclusion that he wasn't their quarterback of the future -- at least not in his present state of mind.
Jackson made it clear that he wants his quarterback to be the face of the franchise and said in a radio interview that if it's true that Manziel went to Vegas during the season finale that would say "non-starter" to him.
Jackson said in an interview on SiriusXM NFL radio that he wants a quarterback "that can elevate this football team, not anybody that's going to tear it down.'
Like Brown, Jackson spent plenty of time studying and interviewing Wentz at the Senior Bowl last week and was impressed. The Browns have the second pick in the draft and will likely take Wentz or Cal quarterback Jared Goff.
Brown also told cleveland.com at the Senior Bowl that Manziel had a chance to be back with the team, but only if he could demonstrate that "football was the most important thing in his life."
Then came the Texas incident, in which police were called to an apartment building early Saturday morning near Texas Christian University, where Manziel's longtime girlfriend Colleen Crowley -- who might now be his ex-girlfriend -- is a student. Crowley's name was not mentioned in the police report, just a 23-year-old female, so it's unclear if she was the woman involved.
When police arrived, they couldn't locate the person who called them, but came across the 23-year-old woman who reported that she had been involved in a disturbance with Manziel in Dallas and possibly other locations. Although she was uncooperative, she managed to express to police that she was worried about Manziel -- whom she described as her ex-boyfriend -- and Fort Worth police launched a search for him.
When he didn't answer his cell phones, police searched the area in patrol cars and then dispatched their Air One helicopter to look for him. Ultimately, he was found to be safe and in no danger. But police in Fort Worth and Dallas are still "actively working'' to determine if Manziel assaulted his ex-girlfriend. On Tuesday, both jurisdictions said they had no update on the probe.
Manziel's agent, Erik Burkhardt, did not return a call and his publicist Denise Michaels, declined to comment.
Last year at this time, Manziel checked himself into inpatient addiction rehab and remained there for 73 days. In his first interview out of rehab, he swore off his signature money sign and his Johnny Football nickname. He moved to a quiet, suburban golf community and had one of his high school coaches, Julius Scott, move in with him for a few months to help keep him sober.
But soon, stories began to emerge of Manziel out partying again. In May, about six weeks after leaving treatment, he threw a water bottle at an 18-year-old who was hounding him for an autograph at a golf tournament in Texas. The photographs included six packs of beer nearby -- the first sign that perhaps Manziel was off track again.
The major red flag went up Oct. 12 in Avon, Ohio when Manziel got in the roadway argument with Crowley and admitted he had been drinking that afternoon. Crowley told police that Manziel beat her and shoved her head into the glass of the car, but she later recanted and he wasn't arrested. The NFL also cleared him of wrongdoing after a thorough investigation lead by chief investigator Lisa Friel.
Upon being cleared -- the same day he was named the starter for the final six games of the season -- Manziel issued a statement saying that league's decision should put to rest any thoughts that he had hurt Crowley.
"I appreciate the NFL's diligence and discretion in reviewing a situation that was both personal and embarrassing,'' Manziel said. "Colleen and I cooperated fully with the NFL's process and completely support their goals of making sure that every family under their umbrella is safer and more secure.
"I'm grateful that the review was so thorough and fair that there should be no question left in the public mind about what actually happened.''
Manziel vowed that he'd no longer be an embarrassment to the organization -- beginning with the upcoming bye weekend. Instead, he partied all weekend in Austin and Columbus, Ohio and then lied to coaches about it, saying the video that surfaced from the Austin bar was old.
Manziel lost his starting job, and Pettine later admitted that Manziel's problems were "deeper-rooted'' than they initially thought when they drafted him. He stressed that Manziel would have to earn back his team's trust.
Instead, he dropped the ball.
As the season wound down, stories of Manziel out partying locally increased. One source told cleveland.com that she sat at a table next to Manziel late in the season at a bar on West 25th Street, and that he sat alone doing shots. She snapped a picture of him, and immediately an employee came over and grabbed her phone and deleted the photo.
The day he was diagnosed with the concussion, Manziel showed up for work disheveled and out of sorts and was immediately sent to the trainer. He was diagnosed with the concussion that day and then ruled out the following day. Two days later, he was bouncing around Vegas as Billy and the Browns knew they had to move on.
The Texas incident -- for which he faces a possible suspension under the NFL's personal conduct policy -- was just more confirmation that Manziel was wrecking the team more than he was "wrecking this league.''
In his eight starts, Manziel went 2-6, including 2-4 this season. He's completed 57 percent of his passes with seven touchdowns and seven interceptions and earned a 74.4 rating.
League sources close to Manziel believe he can play in the NFL.
"But not in his current state of mind,'' one told cleveland.com.