Browns Notes: Manziel, Hoyer, Carter

Addressing the Browns’ decision to release offensive coordinator Kyle Shanahan from his contract, head coach Mike Pettine suggested that Shanahan wanted to move on, and the team didn’t want the situation to drag out.

“It’s just very hard to win in the NFL (even) when everybody’s into it and they truly want to be there,” Pettine said. “And again if you have somebody that just doesn’t want to be there, I know it’s easy to say, ‘Hey he’s under contract, hold him to it,’ (but then) there’s a dark cloud over your coaching offices and I’ve been a part of that.”

According to Pettine, there was some discussion about trying to get compensation for Shanahan, who had two years left on his contract, but the head coach didn’t want to “get into that legal stuff.”

Here’s more on the Browns:

  • Initial reports suggested that Shanahan may have had an issue with the team’s commitment to Johnny Manziel, but Pettine dismissed the notion that the former OC wanted out because of Cleveland’s quarterback situation: “I think a lot of people are just putting that out there as a possible reason where he looked at it and said, ‘Hey, the QB situation’s not great and this is one of the reasons I want to get out of here.’ I won’t get into details, but in his reasoning to me that was not a part of it.”
  • While Browns owner Jimmy Haslam has often been cited as a catalyst for the Manziel pick, Haslam didn’t exactly rave about the young quarterback this week, suggesting that selecting a QB in the first round of this year’s draft is on the table. Nate Ulrich of the Akron Beacon Journal has the details and quotes.
  • Jeremy Fowler and Pat McManamon of ESPN.com spoke to nearly 20 Browns sources to try to determine what went wrong during Manziel’s first NFL season, and found a handful of worrisome patterns both on and off the field.
  • The Browns’ chief contract negotiator, Sashi Brown, reached out to Brian Hoyer‘s agent Joe Linta a week ago to re-open communications between the two sides, according to Tony Grossi of ESPNCleveland.com. Grossi writes that while it may have seemed at one point like a foregone conclusion that Hoyer would be moving on, “that tide is turning” and the veteran could re-sign.
  • Hoyer is scheduled to sit down with Pettine, GM Ray Farmer, and new offensive coordinator John DeFilippo in the next week or two, and what he hears in those meetings may determine whether or not he instructs Linta to pursue a possible extension with the club. Linta on his client: “Brian would love to stay — if the situation were good for all parties. He’s looking forward to meeting those guys over the next couple of weeks.”
  • CFL receiver Duron Carter, who was previously said to be in talks with the Browns, Colts, and Vikings, is now down to two finalists, according to Ben Goessling of ESPN.com (Twitter link). It’s not clear which clubs are the finalists, but the Colts and Vikings have been cited as frontrunners throughout the process, so it’s possible Cleveland is no longer in the mix — that’s just my speculation though.
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