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Former NFL quarterback Johnny Manziel worked out last week for a Canadian Football League team. The Hamilton Tiger-Cats put Manziel through a series of workouts in Buffalo, N.Y., over two days but the organization decided there were "too many red flags" to sign him now, according to a report from TSN and confirmed by ESPN on Wednesday.
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The Tiger-Cats plan to retain their rights to the former Heisman Trophy winner and Cleveland Browns quarterback through a roster mechanism known as a "negotiation list," in the event the 24-year-old Manziel becomes a more realistic option, according to the report.
The Tiger-Cats have lost their first eight games of the season and hired former Hawaii coach June Jones last week as their head coach. The CFL team intended to hire former embattled Baylor football coach Art Briles as offensive coordinator earlier this week before reversing its decision.
Briles, 61, was dismissed at Baylor last year after a university investigation of its handling of allegations of sexual assaults by students, which included football players. The Tiger-Cats' hiring of Briles was viewed as a way to get quarterback Robert Griffin III, who is an NFL free agent at the moment, to join Hamilton.
Manziel has not played football since the Browns released him after the 2015 season.
Manziel, who won the Heisman Trophy in 2012 as a redshirt freshman at Texas A&M, had a number of off-field incidents that affected his public image. He also failed to play effectively in limited opportunities with the Browns after being a first-round draft choice (22nd overall).
Manziel, nicknamed "Johnny Football," completed 147 of 258 passes for 1,675 yards and seven touchdowns and seven interceptions in 15 games, including eight starts, for the Browns in 2014 and 2015.
