Sports

Johnny Manziel’s Return To Pro Football Seems To Have Hit A Roadblock

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David Hookstead Sports And Entertainment Editor
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Johnny Manziel’s ongoing negotiations to play pro football in Canada don’t seem to be going well, and he’s not even close to signing a deal with the Hamilton Tiger-Cats.

TSN reported the following:

Hamilton has apparently made Manziel an offer better than those extended to most players in his situation, but also not far out of line of what an entry-level deal should look like – Johnny Football or no Johnny Football.

Ticat sources believe it to be the best offer afforded any incoming player since the league’s salary management system went into place roughly a decade ago.

Where this gets complicated is that Manziel has star power that could affect the Tiger-Cats’ bottom line when it comes to driving ticket and jersey sales and would be an instant boon to television ratings.

This is why his agent is choking on the idea that he’ll be making less than Jeremiah Masoli, who has had a half-season of CFL success, or James Franklin, who threw a total of 19 passes last season.

I hate to state the obvious here but the Hamilton Tiger-Cats have to offer Manziel whatever money it takes to get him up north. I don’t care what the risks are. This is about to bring the CFL more attention and publicity than they’ve ever had before.

This is one of the easiest decisions I’ve ever seen need to be made. Why would you ever try to lowball the guy? What gain does the CFL if Manziel never plays up there? He’s not even in the league yet, and people are talking about it all the time. It’s the most attention the CFL has ever gotten.

It honestly doesn’t even matter if Manziel goes up there and flames out. All that matters is that the games hit television, tickets are sold, jerseys are bought and America gets a major introduction to the league. How can this be so hard to figure out?

Just wait on it #ComebackSZN

A post shared by Johnny Manziel (@jmanziel2) on

Cut him a check, get him a uniform and the rest will work itself out. This isn’t rocket science. It’s football, and we’re all waiting on the comeback.

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