In June, Texas A&M quarterback Johnny Manziel said he couldn’t wait to get out of College Station. On Friday, he suggested that he could wait one more year.
Appearing on The Dan Patrick Show after having the season-long Aggie muzzle finally removed, Manziel said that he could stay put if he believes he won’t be a first-round pick.
“I don’t know what I would do,” Manziel told Patrick, via our brethren at CFT. “It would be a decision I would have to make with my family and see what was best for me. It would probably mean returning to A&M another year but I would just see what’s in that position.”
The problem is there’s no way to know whether Manziel definitely will be a first-round pick without entering the draft. Sure, there are advisory panels and other mechanisms to gauge draft stock, but there’s only one way to definitely discern where a guy will be drafted.
Even if Manziel learns he won’t be a first-round pick, the question he then needs to ask himself becomes whether staying another year would make a difference in 2015. The factors that would nudge him out of round one would still exist a year from now; the biggest thing that would change would be the list of teams looking for quarterbacks.
It may all soon be moot. Via Rotoworld.com, Manziel reportedly will sign with Select Sports Group, the agency that initially represented Geno Smith in 2013. One his Johnny Hancock is placed at the bottom of a representation agreement, Manziel’s hand will have been forced.
It’s the right call. The NFL is ready for Manziel, and Manziel is ready for the NFL. With the rookie wage scale placing a premium on getting the clock started toward the second contract, Manziel needs strike while the iron is as hot as it’s ever going to be.
