Bill Polian changes stance on Johnny Manziel: ‘Cleveland got what they deserved’
Former NFL general manager-turned-talking head Bill Polian has been offering up a treasure trove of hot takes this week. And in his most recent one, Polian engaged in a bit of revisionist history by completely contradicting what he originally thought of Johnny Manziel.
In essence, Polian argued on Tuesday that the Browns “got what they deserved” by using the 22nd pick in the 2014 NFL Draft to select Manziel, whom Polian now argues had too many red flags.
Today [Tuesday], Bill Polian said that “Cleveland got what they deserved” for drafting Johnny Manziel
Just before the 2014 draft, he said that Cleveland “owes” it to their fans to draft Johnny Manziel not only in the first round, but 4th overall.pic.twitter.com/In6esvPuwZ
— Dov Kleiman (@NFL_DovKleiman) February 20, 2018
“Cleveland got what they deserved,” Polian said, via Pro Football Talk. “When people did their homework on Johnny Manziel, as everybody will on Baker Mayfield, they were well aware that Johnny had problems that might affect his playing in the National Football League. And Cleveland ignored it. So they got what they deserved.”
As noted in the above tweet, Polian’s current take on Manziel stands in stark contrast to what he had to say in 2014 when he argued Cleveland “owes” it to their fans to draft the quarterback.
This is a tweet of Bill Polian telling the #Browns they “owe” it to the fans to draft Johnny Manziel who is 6-0, at 4th overall in the draft.
After no one else wanted him for 21 picks. Browns picked 22nd overall and he busted.
But for some reason Lamar Jackson is “short” at 6-3 https://t.co/nUjwCeghPk
— Dov Kleiman (@NFL_DovKleiman) February 20, 2018
Not only that, Polian argued then that Manziel was arguably worth the fourth-overall pick, as evidenced by the tweet linked in Kleiman’s above.
Bill Polian: Johnny Manziel has magic. If you're in the Browns draft room, you owe it to the fans to consider taking him at 4. #SXMNFL
— SiriusXM NFL Radio (@SiriusXMNFL) April 30, 2014
Polian without question has every right to change his opinion. Needless to say, however, this week has been an interesting one for the ESPN analyst in the hot-take department, to say the least.