NFL news: Around the league in 32 plays

It’s Friday Addicts, and time for your weekly roundup of all the NFL news and rumors.  The last couple of weeks have been relatively slow, and I kind of expected a little more of the same with this being Super Bowl week.  Boy was I wrong.  Not only is there a lot of news, there were quite a few big stories that went down this week.

More from Kansas City Chiefs News

• Former Chiefs cornerback in legal trouble in Las Vegas
• Chiefs news: Travis Kelce wants to host fan ‘chug-off’ in Germany
• KC Chiefs send Dave Merritt to NFL coaching accelerator
• Creed Humphrey lands on PFF’s Top 25 Under 25 list
• Tyreek Hill, Davante Adams prove themselves away from star quarterbacks

Teams have already started working on retaining their in-house talent, and that has resulted in some big contracts being handed out.  And with the Chiefs set to have a fairly large Free Agency class, most of the contract signings around the league will have an effect on that.  And, obviously, there are the signings the Chiefs are making themselves.  On top of that, the rumor mill has hit the ground running with no shortage of reports on who wants out of where.

Of course, the Lead Story for this week is a pretty obvious choice.  It’s a sad state of affairs when one person can not only repeatedly thumb his nose at the NFL conduct policy, but also the legal system itself.  And at some point, we have to drop the “he needs help” narrative and call the situation for what it is.  This guy is a thug.  His antics have gone well past just liking to party or even being out of control.

Lead Story: Johnny Criminal

Johnny Manziel has done it again.  The troubled quarterback was the subject of a manhunt this past weekend after a domestic violence issue involving his girlfriend.  According to a police report, Manziel repeatedly struck his ex-girlfriend, Colleen Crowley, and that she believed he was under the influence of drugs.  Police utilized air units in an effort to locate Manziel, however no arrest was made.

Since then, the Dallas Police Department and Fort Worth Police Department have confirmed that no charges will be filed against Manziel, despite Crowley seeking a protection order from him.  Over the course of the altercation, Manziel reportedly physically prevented Crowley from getting away from him multiple times and threatened to kill both her and himself.

Manziel is denying the claims, telling reporters that “I’m completely stable.  I’m safe and secure.”  He went on to state “I have great things coming ahead…I know I’ve been having fun but I just need to get my body right. I’m 100% committed to playing football.”

Just on the surface of those comments, there is a lot that doesn’t add up when you look at his recent timeline of events.  However, casting even more doubt on his claims is a statement from his father, who told Dallas News8 “We’re trying to get out son better.  We’re not there yet.”  At this point it is at least clear that even his family doesn’t buy what he’s saying.

This is not the first time that Manziel has been involved in a domestic incident with Crowley.  It’s also not the first time he has avoided charges.  Back in October of 2015, Manziel and Crowley were involved in another incident where Manziel reportedly slammed her head against the car window and had struck her.  During that encounter, Manziel admitted having been drinking earlier in the day.  Yet there were still no charges filed for any part of the incident.

“I’m completely stable.  I’m safe and secure.” ~ Manziel in response to claims he threatened to kill himself and Colleen Crowley

This is, of course, just more in the long saga of Johnny Manziel’s spiraling out of control while thumbing his nose at any source of authority, be it the NFL or the US legal system.  And why shouldn’t he?  It’s not like there are many people holding him accountable.

While Manziel was kicked from LeBron James’ marketing firm, that has really been the only negative result he’s faced so far.  The Browns are making it clear that they intend to release Manziel this offseason (after giving him millions of dollars), but it’s widely suspected that the THUG known as Johnny Football is going to land on his feet again.  Notably, Michael Irvin is actively campaigning for him to end up in Dallas.

According to ESPN’s Ed Werder, Manziel has told close friends that the Chiefs are one of three teams that are interested in pursuing him, along with the St Louis Rams and Dallas Cowboys.  Werder clarified that the Rams did have draft interest in Manziel, but stated that the Chiefs have no interest in him.

As for Dallas…well, you can draw your own conclusions, but I’m not going to pretend like it isn’t at least a little bit convenient that the Cowboys have been repeatedly connected to Manziel and that it is the Dallas police who are letting him off the hook.

For the most part, I find Manziel’s claims to most likely be a result of the self-delusion that he clearly lives in every day.  I don’t see any way that the Chiefs are even remotely interested in Manziel.  It makes absolutely no sense.  The Chiefs have a stable situation at quarterback with Alex Smith at the helm and a pair of young prospects still in the wings.  So there is no need to invest in a problem like Manziel.  Furthermore, this is the second time Manziel has been involved in a domestic violence incident, and while under the influence.

It seems incredibly unlikely that any team would be interested in bringing him in without having seen at least some sign that he’s getting better.  That’s especially true of a team that isn’t all that removed from one of the single worst domestic violence incidents in NFL history.  Clark Hunt would have to be insane to allow the Chiefs to tie themselves to someone with Manziel’s problems.

Of course, there are many out there who do still think that bringing Manziel to Kansas City is a good idea.  Honestly, that sickens me even more than the fact that he thinks it’s possible.  The kid is a thug, plain and simple.  The second that he started beating on someone, he crossed the line from needing help to being an actual criminal.  The unfortunate actions of police officers looking the other way on domestic abuse, yet again, doesn’t change the fact that Manziel is out there hurting people.

That doesn’t even get into the fact that Manziel’s antics have been detrimental to his team, or that he really hasn’t even shown himself to be any good.  I shouldn’t even need to get into that stuff.  Anyone supporting that kind of person needs to take a long look in the mirror.  This shouldn’t take the publishing of a security camera video or the posting of pictures for people to get outraged.  The outrage should already be there.  The league, the justice system, and people in general need to take a stand against this.

Next: Cards Begin Retaining Talent