Former Heisman winner and Browns first-rounder Johnny Manziel made his MMA debut on Saturday, against an influencer named Bob Menery.
Manziel won easily. Anyone who spent two minutes and sixteen seconds of their lives watching the fight lost.
It was, quite frankly, a Battle of Dad Bods. Two guys with limited skills in a fight that looked like something that broke out at the back end of a barbecue where both had consumed too much brisket and too much beer.
Manziel, a former pro athlete who outweighed Menery by (as Menery claimed after the fight) 30 pounds, seemed to stun Menery early with multiple kicks (including one that almost connected to Menery’s face) before taking Menery down and never letting him get up. Manziel eventually wailed away with blows to the head. At one point, Manziel seemed to be on the verge of deploying the time-honored “stop hitting yourself” technique.
Eventually, the referee stepped in and stopped the madness.
“I need a cigarette,” Manziel said after the fight.
After watching it, I need a Manhattan.
Manziel said his first MMA fight was likely his last one. That’s the best news of all.
Browns Clips
The Browns hired Todd Monken as their new head coach on Jan. 28. Almost four months later, he has yet to meet the team’s best player.
Monken was asked at the team’s organized team activities whether he has had a “face-to-face with Garrett yet.”
“Myles?” Monken asked, before answering, “No.”
Garrett has stayed away from the Browns’ offseason program and has already lost $1 million for missing a mandatory minicamp last month. The team has another mandatory minicamp next month, which will cost Garrett another $107,911 if he misses.
The 2025 Defensive Player of the Year didn’t participate in the Browns’ voluntary offseason work last season before setting the NFL’s official sacks record with 23.
Browns coach Todd Monken was not happy about interceptions he saw on the practice field during Organized Team Activities on Wednesday.
Monken said after practice that it should be easy for quarterbacks to find open receivers, given that OTAs don’t include any pass rush, and he wasn’t pleased that his quarterbacks were throwing interceptions anyway.
“We threw interceptions in 7-on-7 for God’s sakes. Who does that? There’s no pass rush. It was embarrassing,” Monken said.
Monken did not say which quarterbacks had thrown embarrassing interceptions. Deshaun Watson and Shedeur Sanders are competing for the starting job, while Dillion Gabriel and rookie Taylen Green are taking backup reps.
As for Watson and Sanders, Monken wouldn’t say which quarterback is ahead in the competition at this point. Monken has said he hopes to know who his starting quarterback is by the end of the spring.
Shedeur Sanders made the Pro Bowl last season despite starting only seven games and throwing seven touchdowns to 10 interceptions as a rookie. But Sanders is firmly in the competition with Deshaun Watson for the Browns’ starting job.
Sanders is the only one of the team’s four quarterbacks who spent the offseason working at the team facility.
New head coach Todd Monken praised Sanders’ development since last season.
“I think Shedeur’s come miles, in terms of his progressions, getting the ball out, his understanding of concepts,” Monken said, via Daniel Oyefusi of ESPN. “I think he’s really, really come a long way.”
The Browns held their second OTA practice on Wednesday, and Sanders and Watson split the first-team reps. Dillon Gabriel and rookie Taylen Green took second- and third-team reps.
Monken hopes to name a starting quarterback before training camp.
“You’d love to have it at every position at the end of spring, but you can’t guarantee that,” Monken said. “We’ll have it set for Jacksonville [in Week 1].”
The Browns kicked off the OTA stage of their offseason program this week and the move into more intense on-field work hasn’t altered their approach to their quarterback competition.
Deshaun Watson and Shedeur Sanders each led off different periods of Wednesday’s practice and head coach Todd Monken said that they will continue to alternate in those opportunities until further notice.
“Nothing’s really changed,” Monken said. “We’re gonna rotate those guys and play the best player. We’ll see.”
Monken said he’s been impressed by Watson’s athleticism and that Sanders has “come miles” in terms of his progressions and understanding of offensive concepts, but didn’t offer any hints about a lean toward one quarterback over another. He said he’d like to have a No. 1 quarterback in place by the end of spring work, “but you can’t guarantee that” will be the case.
Defensive end Markees Watts tried out for the Browns at their rookie minicamp this month and that went well enough to earn him an extended stay in Cleveland.
The Browns announced that they have signed Watts on Tuesday. They also signed wide receiver Aaron Anderson and linebacker Reid Carrico.
Watts spent the last three seasons with the Buccaneers. He appeared in 27 games and recorded 13 tackles and 1.5 sacks.
Anderson and Carrico were both undrafted this year and also took part in the minicamp on a tryout basis. Anderson had 106 receptions for 1,341 yards and five touchdowns while at LSU while Carrico spent time at West Virginia and Ohio State.
The Browns waived defensive tackle Bernard Gooden, tight end Caden Prieskorn, and wide receiver Isaiah Wooden in corresponding moves.
The NFL has opened the floodgates for private-equity funds to acquire minority interests in its franchise. One firm, which currently has a piece of two teams, is poised to add a third.
Via Jonathan Jones of CBS Sports, owners are expected to vote today on the proposed sale of three percent of the Cleveland Browns to Arctos.
Arctos is one of the firms with advance approval to invest in teams. Already, Arctos owns a piece of the Chargers (eight percent) and Bills (10 percent).
It’s an odd dynamic, to say the least, for the same group to have an ownership stake in multiple competing businesses. Ultimately, however, they only compete on the field. When it comes to the relentless pursuit of cash, they’re all in it together.
The valuation isn’t currently known. To use a round number, a three-percent chunk at a $10 billion valuation would result in a $300 million payment.
The sale provides the Browns with a nice infusion of cash at a time when they’re getting ready to build a new stadium. The private contribution for the facility exceeds $1.755 billion.
The next phase of the Browns’ offseason begins today with Organized Team Activities, and the team’s best player isn’t expected to be there.
Browns defensive end Myles Garrett, the NFL’s reigning Defensive Player of the Year, isn’t expected to participate in OTAs, according to Mary Kay Cabot of Cleveland.com.
Garrett didn’t participate in OTAs last year, either, when he set a new NFL official record for sacks, with 23 in the regular season. Garrett has proven he can play at an elite level in the regular season without working with the team during the offseason.
Garrett also skipped the Browns’ minicamp last month, costing himself $1 million, a workout bonus he negotiated for when he signed a new contract with the Browns last year. It’s unclear whether Garrett will attend the Browns’ mandatory minicamp next month. He’ll be fined if he doesn’t, but he showed by foregoing that $1 million payment that he doesn’t much care about losing money for staying home in the offseason.
When Garrett skipped last month’s work, new Browns head coach Todd Monken said he hadn’t spoken to Garrett and had only heard from him via text.
“It’s fine. This is voluntary,” Monken said. “We have other guys besides Myles that aren’t here. I wish they were here. They’ll be ready. We expect them to be ready, and we’ll be fired up when they’re here. And really all the players have informed us. They’ve been unbelievable with their communication. So, has Myles. They’ve communicated. Doesn’t mean I like the communication, but it’s voluntary. I wish they were all here. I’ve said that plenty of times. But every one of them is a Brown, and we’re excited that they are.”
Monken may have to wait a while to speak to his best player.
Browns rookie receiver KC Concepcion sported No. 17 when he was at his introductory press conference and during rookie minicamp.
But that’s not the number he’s going to wear going forward.
Cleveland announced on Monday that the first-round pick has switched to No. 1.
Conception was the No. 24 overall pick of this year’s draft, and was one of two consecutive receivers selected by the club.
The first hint of Concepcion’s number change came over the weekend at the NFLPA Rookie Premiere, where he sported No. 1 in the picture that featured the attendees.
Concepcion will be a key part of Cleveland’s offense, which is set to be completely revamped under new head coach Todd Monken in 2026.
Colorado coach Deion Sanders, in his recent appearance on The Barbershop with Garrett Bush, made it clear that he has a strong affinity for the Browns. Beyond the gratitude he feels for the fact that Cleveland ultimately drafted Deion’s son, Shedeur, Deion thinks the Browns are putting together a team that can win, soon.
“Look at that rookie class last season,” Deion said. “The rookie class this season, who I know they haven’t played, they haven’t put it on grass. But they’re building something that is tremendous, and they’re not too far away. Of course, they need stability at the quarterback position. Of course, they need stability on the offensive line. Everything else, to me, they got it. They got it.”
They also have the reigning NFL defensive player of the year, an all-time talent in defensive end Myles Garrett. Deion gushed about what the Browns have in Garrett, and Deion strongly believes they shouldn’t trade him.
“They got a killer on defense, I’m tired of y’all talking about trading him and getting rid of him,” Deion said. “That don’t make no sense to me. That’s a once in a lifetime man. That’s a once in a lifetime man that you don’t see no more. I don’t get rid of that. Unless I could get your mama, daddy, your uncle, cousins, and everybody in a trade for that. Because that’s a grown man. That’s a winner. That’s a winner.”
The practical question is whether the Browns will become a winner while Garrett remains in prime position to be a difference maker, or whether they should consider maximizing the return in an effort to get a massive haul of draft picks that could form a strong nucleus of young talent — especially given the many key draft picks the Browns lost in the Deshaun Watson trade.
For now, it’s Deshaun vs. Shedeur as to the question of bringing “stability at the quarterback position.” Deion surely believes that stability comes from Shedeur. That could be one of the reasons why he wants to meet with new coach Todd Monken — to talk to him, football coach to football coach, about the way to get the most out of Shedeur and, in turn, the Browns.
