Johnny Manziel’s agent said earlier this month that the quarterback’s camp is setting a deadline of Jan. 31 to work out a contract with the Hamilton Tiger-Cats, but the CFL team does not seem to concerned about racing to get a deal done.
In an interview with Alex Marvez, Rick Neuheisel and Mark Dominik on SiriusXM NFL Radio this week, Tiger-Cats general manager Eric Tillman said the team has “a lot of respect” for Manziel’s agent Erik Burkhardt but that a contract deadline won’t accomplish much.
“We’ll be patient. I know the deadline is there but will be fluid,” Tillman said. “There’s a lot of time between now and the beginning of camp [in May]. … There aren’t many benefits of being 60, which I am now, but one is that you learn the value of patience. [Burkhardt] is doing his job and trying to represent his client. Johnny certainly is a guy that was an elite player and has a high profile. I’m not going to negotiate obviously on the air but we understand that [deadline] is just part of the process.”
Burkhardt had said previously that Manziel has “several other professional options readily available,” but it’s hard to imagine what those could be. No NFL team wants to sign Manziel, though it’s possible the Tiger-Cats could eventually trade his rights to another CFL team.
If Manziel ends up playing with the Tiger-Cats and does well while remaining clean off the field, there’s an outside chance the 25-year-old could get another shot in the NFL. If not, another professional football league that Manziel could have a lot of interest in is expected to launch in the coming years.
