The Cleveland Browns passed on Johnny Manziel early in the draft, then traded into the No. 22 spot where they selected the former Texas A&M signal caller.
Manziel is expected to compete with Brian Hoyer for the starters role with the Browns but according to ESPN owner Jimmy Haslam says the Browns have already told the first rounder to “like a backup quarterback.”
A season ago Hoyer showed promise as the Browns quarterback before suffering an ACL injury. He enters 2014 as the starter but that is in name only at this point and his teammates know that as they have already began to talk about the addition of Manziel.
“I think good old Johnny Football is going to be a good addition to Cleveland,” center Alex Mack said Monday. “Don’t know who the starter is going to be, though.”
“Coach [Mike] Pettine talked about drafting competition, and I think he stuck to that,” tight end Jordan Cameron said. “It seems like it’s going to be a lot of competition. We’ll see how that battle goes.”
Who will be under center in Week 1 is unclear, but eventually the Browns will have to turn the keys to the offense over to Heisman Trophy winning Manziel.