Johnny Manziel Reportedly May Be Close to Signing with CFL Team

Brent Zwerneman of the Houston Chronicle reported Wednesday that Johnny Manziel "might sign on with a CFL team soon."

Manziel, 24, last played professionally for the Cleveland Browns in the 2015 season.

Off-field issues and lackluster play led to Manziel's eventual release from the Browns. While another NFL team hasn't given him a shot yet, he said over the summer he was considering playing in Canada.

"In terms of looking at the CFL route, it's definitely something that I've looked into," he told Clay Travis of Fox Sports in early August (h/t Sporting News' Alec Gearty). "If I wouldn't have had as much interest that I've had this year in talking with some teams, I probably would have taken that route."

Later in August, Manziel tried out for the CFL's Hamilton Tiger-Cats in Buffalo, per Farhan Lalji and Dave Naylor of TSN, who reported the team's coaches and front office staff came away "convinced he's not ready to resume his professional career."

"Too many red flags," a source told Lalji and Naylor.

They added the Tiger-Cats planned to keep Manziel on their negotiation list, essentially meaning they would have 10 days to either sign him or trade his rights to a different CFL team if Manziel declared his intention to sign with Hamilton.

That would make the Tiger-Cats the logical team for Manziel to sign with should he be indeed nearing a decision to join the CFL.