Kurt Warner Says Johnny Manziel Should Use CFL Opportunity to Make Return to NFL

Hall of Fame quarterback Kurt Warner said former Cleveland Browns signal-caller Johnny Manziel should get another chance in the NFL if he succeeds in the Canadian Football League.

On Friday, TMZ Sports provided comments from Warner, who passed along a personal message to his fellow QB: "[You] gotta just keep workin', keep playing—good luck to ya."

The CFL's Hamilton Tiger-Cats announced Sunday they made an initial offer to Manziel in order to keep his exclusive negotiating rights:

"As per the negotiation list process, Johnny Manziel and his agent recently notified the Tiger-Cats that they had activated the 10-day window during which the Tiger-Cats must offer him a contract or lose his negotiation list rights. That window closed today and we can confirm that we made an offer to Manziel, and that his rights will remain on our negotiation list while discussions with he and his agent continue. We will have no further comment."

The 25-year-old Texas native worked out for Hamilton last August but wasn't signed.

Farhan Lalji and Dave Naylor of TSN reported at the time the Ticats "were not convinced Manziel is in game shape or that his off-field regiment is consistent with that of someone dedicated to professional football."

CFL commissioner Randy Ambrosie confirmed last month he'd approve a Manziel contract and informed the quarterback he "must continue to meet a number of conditions in order to remain eligible."

The QB's agent, Erik Burkhardt, told Ian Rapoport of the NFL Network they would continue to negotiate with the Tiger-Cats until Jan. 31. If an agreement isn't reached, they will "turn our focus to several other professional options readily available to us."

Manziel, the 2012 Heisman Trophy winner at Texas A&M, hasn't played professionally since the 2015 NFL season. The Browns released him in March 2016 following a series of off-field problems and lackluster on-field performance.

While making it back to the NFL is an extreme long shot, he could look to Warner, who spent time in both the Arena Football League and NFL Europe before his breakthrough with the St. Louis Rams, as motivation to complete his comeback attempt.