Revisiting Johnny Manziel's draft year: Why Cowboys passed on QB in 2014 NFL Draft and he fell to Browns

Entering the 2014 NFL Draft, a lot of the buzz was, per usual, about where the quarterbacks would land.

The 2014 quarterback class wasn't considered to be a particularly strong one. It lacked a true, cream-of-the-crop passer and instead contained many signal-callers who looked the part of high-floor, low-ceiling starters.

There were, of course, a few exceptions to that rule. One of them was Blake Bortles, a toolsy quarterback from UCF who ended up being the first quarterback selected at No. 3 overall by the Jaguars.

But the one that most NFL and college football fans cared about most was Johnny Manziel.

Manziel became a sensation in his two years as a starter at Texas A&M. He was a star for the Aggies, winning the Heisman Trophy as a freshman and dazzling college football fans with his off-script playmaking abilities. He became well-known for his "Johnny Football" moniker — and also his off-field reputation as a party animal.

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Still, NFL teams were cautiously intrigued by Manziel. Some saw a player who could eventually emerge as a unique passer in the mold of recent success stories Robert Griffin III and Russell Wilson. Ultimately, it was the Browns who ended up selecting him, but the Cowboys were among those with a high level of interest in his skill set.

Dallas had a chance to choose Manziel but ultimately opted to go a different way. The Cowboys ended up getting a likely Hall of Famer while Browns fans will think of a different kind of bust every time they hear Manziel's name.

Here's how Manziel almost became a Cowboy but landed in Cleveland instead.

What year did Johnny Manziel get drafted?

Manziel was selected during the 2014 NFL Draft. He entered the event after starting two seasons for Texas A&M and becoming the first freshman to win the Heisman Trophy.

Manziel had two years of eligibility remaining when he declared for the draft. He had been with the Aggies for three years but redshirted during his first season. Thus, he could have continued to hone his game in college, but he instead elected to go pro.

Johnny Manziel and the Cowboys

Manziel's draft day went much differently than most expected, but his story wouldn't be complete without the Cowboys.

After quarterback-needy Cleveland and Tampa Bay passed on Manziel with the No. 7 and No. 8 picks in the draft, respectively, the QB slid down the board a bit. He was available when Dallas was on the clock with the 16th pick.

As legend has it, Jerry Jones had a draft card in his hands with Manziel's name on it. However, his son Stephen snatched it away from him to force the Cowboys to select a different player.

To this day, Jones denies that version of the event. That said, he has spoken about his affinity for Manziel's skill set and revealed that the quarterback was among the players drawing consideration for the pick.

"That didn't happen," Jones said when asked about his son "snatching" the draft card with Manziel's name on it out of his hands, per the Dallas Morning News. "We're well aware that there are a lot of people looking at us in that room. You'd think we could act a little more organized than that.

"Figuratively speaking, it got close to that. It certainly was a big debate going on at no place else other than my mind. ... Because ultimately that was the bottom line — being behind (Tony) Romo for those years and whether or not that was the best way to use that pick."

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Who did Cowboys draft instead of Johnny Manziel?

The Cowboys ultimately passed on Manziel in favor of Notre Dame guard Zack Martin. The decision has been a great one, as he has long been the team's starter at right guard but has the versatility to play outside as needed, too.

Martin has played in 137 games (all starts) and has been named to the AP All-Pro first team six times. He is probably a future Hall of Fame player already, and he is still just 33 in November.

Of course, the Cowboys' decision not to select Manziel also helped to drop him further down the board, as most of the teams selecting behind Dallas weren't in need of quarterbacks. That is what allowed the Browns to land him with the 22nd overall pick after passing on him at No. 8. 

Why Browns drafted Johnny Manziel

The Browns drafted Manziel for a couple of reasons. First and foremost, they needed a quarterback. The team had only Brian Hoyer, Tyler Thigpen and Alex Tanney on the roster at the time of the draft. As such, it was widely expected that the Browns would target a player like Manziel, Teddy Bridgewater or Blake Bortles with one of their first-round picks to add upside to the room.

The other part of the equation was a text message sent by Manziel to the team's brass as he slid down the draft board, as detailed by then-offensive coordinator Dowell Loggains.

"We're sitting there and they keep showing Johnny on T.V. and Johnny and I are texting and he shoots me a text and he says, 'I wish you guys would come get me. Hurry up and draft me because I want to be there. I want to wreck this league together,'" Loggains told Cleveland.com.

When I got that text, I forwarded it to [owner Jimmy Haslam] and to [head coach Mike Pettine]...I'm like 'this guy wants to be here. He wants to be part of it.' As soon as that happened, Mr. Haslam said, 'pull the trigger. We're trading up to go get this guy.'

Indeed, the Browns did just that to get a guy they envisioned being their quarterback of the future. But like so many of Cleveland's other first-round quarterback investments — see Brandon Weeden (2012), Brady Quinn (2007) and Tim Couch (1999) — it didn't work out.

The team ultimately cut ties with Manziel after two underwhelming seasons, releasing him on March 11, 2016. 

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2014 NFL Draft picks

Below is a look at the rest of the first-round selections from the 2014 NFL Draft.

Certainly, that wasn't a banner haul for the Browns. They ended up with two players in cornerback Justin Gilbert and Manziel. Even worse, 17 first-round picks were Pro Bowlers at least once during their careers; neither Cleveland pick was a part of that group.

It also hurts that Cleveland took Manziel ahead of solid, NFL-level starters like Derek Carr, Jimmy Garoppolo and, before his catastrophic knee injury in 2016, Teddy Bridgewater.

Below is a look at all 14 of the quarterbacks selected during that draft.