CLEVELAND, Ohio — Johnny Manziel might finally have pushed the Cleveland Browns to the edge.
Manziel's second season ended much the way his first did -- with uncertainty and questions.
Where was Manziel on Saturday night?
Was he in Las Vegas, as USA Today reported?
Why did he not report Sunday morning to the team facility as required of any player in concussion protocol?
Why didn't he at least attend the Browns' final game of the season?
And, in the bigger picture, why are the Browns having to answer these questions for the second year in a row, and how much longer will they have to answer them?
"I haven't seen Johnny and I'm not sure if those reports are accurate or not," owner Jimmy Haslam said of the Vegas report. "We do expect a lot out of our players on and off the field, and I'll just leave it at that."
Haslam has said that before, and the team always brought Manziel back. Manziel missed treatment on his injured hamstring the day before last season's finale after being out the night before, then was banished to the locker room during the game.
Haslam said Manziel was supposed to check in with medical staff Sunday morning at the team's facility, as players with concussions are required to do, but he didn't.
Mike Pettine, who was fired as coach after the game, said if Manziel was in Vegas it would be "disappointing."
Joe Thomas echoed the feeling.
"If that's a true report, then obviously for him some things are more important right now than football," Thomas said. "And being the starting quarterback, that's a problem that probably needs to be addressed in the offseason."
Thomas had stressed that it was vital for Manziel to regain the trust of teammates this season after he spent 10 weeks in rehab from January through April 2015. For a time, he did. But after being named the starter for the rest of the season on Nov. 17, Manziel suffered a major setback a week later when he lied about a video that surfaced on social media showing him holding a bottle of champagne. He was demoted from first to third string.
The final weekend did nothing to solidify his standing with anyone associated with the Browns.
"Obviously the season didn't end the way we'd hoped with him," Thomas said. "That's disappointing, but we'll certainly revisit that in the offseason."
The Browns have three choices with Manziel.
They can continue with him and hope he gets his personal and professional life together. That would have been a far more palatable option had they known where he was this weekend.
They can cut him immediately. That would make a statement, but means the team would be jettisoning a first-round pick for nothing.
They can try to trade him and hope Dallas' Jerry Jones makes an offer of a draft pick. Manziel's actions make a trade a little tougher to complete, though.
Haslam would only say that Sashi Brown, the team's new vice president in charge of football operations, and the new general manager and coach would decide Manziel's future with the Browns.
But Haslam knows that he sets the culture for the team as its owner.
"As the owner you do have say," Haslam said. "I just don’t think right now is the time to comment on that. There will be plenty of time to work on that over the next several months.”