Ex-Browns CEO Joe Banner shares interesting info about Johnny Manziel

The Cleveland Browns are reportedly split on whether they should take a quarterback with the No. 1 overall pick in the draft or go with the seemingly safer pick in Myles Garrett, and history could tell us something about which path they will take.

Last week, a report surfaced claiming Browns ownership wants to draft Mitch Trubisky while the coaching staff likes Garrett. If owner Jimmy Haslam is the one who wants Trubisky, the former North Carolina star could hear his name called first. A story former Browns CEO Joe Banner told this week helps explain why.

In a podcast appearance with Albert Breer of The MMQB, Banner said he was “beyond shocked” when the Browns picked Johnny Manziel in the first round of the 2014 NFL Draft. That’s because Banner was fired by the Browns roughly three months before the draft, and he says Manziel was off the team’s draft board entirely at that time.

“To be completely candid, at that point he wasn’t on the board,” Banner said, as transcribed by Frank Schwab of Yahoo Sports. “Our attitude at that point was we weren’t comfortable with the risks that came with Johnny and we weren’t going to pick him.”

So what changed? Banner can’t say for certain, but he says he, former general manager Michael Lombardi — who was fired at the same time — and then-assistant GM Ray Farmer all discussed Manziel and did their homework on him.

“To me it’s a great mystery,” Banner added. “I’d love to know from the time I left to the time they drafted, whether it was a function of deciding they were willing to take a chance on more because they thought the upside and talent was so great. Frankly, when I left we had some concerns about his talent. We weren’t sure he was that accurate. We weren’t sure he could stay healthy. And we weren’t completely sold on the mental acumen part of it. Then, of course, there were off-field issues that we were aware of that were concerning.”

There have always been rumblings that Haslam was the one who wanted Manziel, and the team owner obviously gets the final say. Haslam wasn’t the only owner who liked Manziel, as we all know the infamous draft day story about Jerry Jones from 2014.

In hindsight, Manziel was a horrible pick. You can understand why he would appeal to an owner, however, as he was a national superstar with a massive following. Many scouts and analysts feel there are no quarterbacks in this year’s draft — Trubisky included — who are worthy of being taken at No. 1 overall. But if Haslam believes otherwise, none of that will matter.