To say the Cleveland Browns are keeping Johnny Manziel at arm's length might be a gross understatement.
From the Senior Bowl in Mobile, Alabama, coach Hue Jackson told WKRK-FM 92.3 and cleveland.com that he had yet to talk with Manziel. His words indicated he was in no hurry to do so, either.
Sashi Brown, the team's new director of all things football, said last week he still doesn't know where Manziel was the final weekend of the regular season (USA Today had Manziel in Las Vegas).
Brown said he had not yet even taken the time to sit down and find out where Manziel was. He pointed to other priorities, including hiring a coach and general manager and now attending the Senior Bowl.
Consider these facts:
Manziel is a first-round draft pick.
He is a quarterback.
Quarterback is the most important position on the team.
He at one time was talked about as the future of the franchise.
Now he's an afterthought -- except for those who follow his days and nights on social media.
A team committed to a first-round quarterback simply would not treat its first-round quarterback with this kind of approach. It would embrace him, talk to him, find out the details of what happened, try to get get him focused on what's ahead and try to fix whatever caused said issue the final weekend of the season.
The Browns would sooner look at Carson Wentz than find out where Manziel was.
Manziel was so quiet for a few days after the season he had some asking "Where's Johnny?" He stayed out of sight at his Avon, Ohio, home, where a friend staying with him politely declined interviews.
But since last week he's been in Dallas, and social-media evidence of his appearances at clubs, bars and events has resurfaced.
Wednesday, Brown spoke with cleveland.com in Mobile about the partying and offered the tepid analysis that the team needs to see that football "is the most important thing in his life."
It's been a consistent statement from Brown, but it sure doesn't indicate overwhelming backing. The same seems true of Browns fans, who, based on unscientific observations, seem to have jumped off the Manziel bus.
What will happen with Manziel?
Former Cowboys quarterback and present Fox analyst Troy Aikman told SI.com and SportsCenter that he believes either Manziel or Robert Griffin III will be the backup to Tony Romo in Dallas.
Aikman spoke on gut feeling, not on any inside information.
"It's my belief that one of those two guys will be in Dallas," Aikman said. "Time will tell whether or not that happens. Jerry Jones has been on record saying he wanted Manziel. He was upset with himself for not taking Manziel [in 2014], even after they drafted Zack Martin. So that's certainly an option."
However, in a survey of ESPN's NFL Nation reporters, Cowboys writer Todd Archer opined that Dallas' interest will be low -- as will that of 30 other teams.
The Browns might be hedging their bets and hoping to work a trade for Manziel rather than just releasing him. That would seem to be a difficult deal to complete given all the baggage Manziel brings and what happened in Cleveland -- and what he's doing with himself since the offseason started.
If the Browns are "so done" with Manziel, as SI.com reported the night of the season finale, they might simply have to cut him.
At that point it's a free-for-all to guess where he winds up.