Cleveland Browns All-Pro left tackle Joe Thomas says the difference in Johnny Manziel’s offseason commitment is “night and day” from where it was last year.
“Last year on a Saturday, you might see a picture of [Johnny] on Instagram floating in a swan drinking champagne,” Thomas told NFL Network on Tuesday. “This year on a Saturday if you came in the building, you’d see him studying his playbook and watching film with his coach. It’s pretty apparent he’s realized how important football is to him.”
It’s obviously still very early in the offseason, as the team just started its voluntary workout program on April 20. But this is a very positive sign in Manziel’s comeback attempt.
Context is key here, as this praise is coming from a five-time first-team All-Pro left tackle who’s been named to the Pro Bowl every year since he entered the league in 2007.
Thomas also said earlier this month that Manziel had “lost probably a lot of trust among the guys on the team last year by the way he handed himself once he became the starter” in December.
“I’m hoping when he comes back in April we see a new Johnny and everybody’s blown away with his commitment,” Thomas said earlier this month. “And I think he’s got the talent, so it’s just a matter of if he commits himself to it, we can have a really good quarterback on our hands.”
It sounds like Manziel got the message and is taking the necessary steps to resurrect his career. He’s still obviously got a long ways to go, but this looks like he’s getting off to a good start.
If the team doesn’t manage to land Oregon star quarterback Marcus Mariota on Thursday night or strike a trade for a veteran quarterback like Sam Bradford, Jay Cutler or Philip Rivers during the 2015 NFL Draft, then we would tentatively expect Manziel to beat out journeyman Josh McCown and open the 2015 season as the starting quarterback.
But for now, Cleveland remains one of the most likely landing spots for Mariota. Tennessee, San Diego, Chicago, Philadelphia and New York are the other potential destinations for the Oregon quarterback.
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