Johnny Manziel says he nearly joined the Chiefs after being let go by the Browns

A quarterback who was born in Tyler, Texas joined the Chiefs ahead of the 2017 season.

That’d be Patrick Mahomes, of course. The Chiefs took him with the 10th overall pick in the 2017 NFL Draft, changing the course of the franchise’s fortunes.

But the Chiefs nearly added another Tyler-born quarterback: Johnny Manziel.

While on Raiders star Maxx Crosby’s “The Rush” podcast, Manziel said he thought he’d be joining the Chiefs after he washed out with the Cleveland Browns.

Manziel, who starred at Texas A&M, was selected by the Browns with the 22nd overall pick in the 2014 NFL Draft. He started just eight games in two seasons and had a 74.4 quarterback rating. Cleveland had a 2-6 record in those games.

The Chiefs beat the Browns 17-13 at Arrowhead Stadium on Dec. 27, 2015, in Manziel’s final appearance with Cleveland.

Perhaps Chiefs coach Andy Reid saw something in Manziel that day.

“I went and had a really good relationship with Sean Payton, but it was towards the end of (Drew) Brees’ career and I think it was more of like this isn’t kind of going to work out,” Manziel said on the podcast of visiting the Saints. “I really thought it was going to, and then funny story I haven’t told very many people is I thought I was gonna sign in Kansas City the same year that Mahomes got drafted.

“So I think if they wouldn’t have taken a quarterback, which thank God they did, I think I could have ended up there. Andy Reid has a really, really good long history of being able to help people, and like he saw something in me as well. So I took a couple like meetings there and flew up to Kansas City and, you know, kicked the tires on it and it ended up not working out, but I think I had two really good opportunities and situations, and it just wasn’t meant to be.”

Here is the podcast and you can decide for yourself whether Crosby agreed with Manziel that it was better that the Chiefs got Mahomes.