Johnny Manziel Released, CFL Won't Let Any of Their Teams Sign Him

On Wednesday, the Canadian Football League's Montreal Alouettes released Johnny Manziel at the behest of the CFL. Now, should any other pro team in Canada actually want to sign Manziel to a deal, they would be S.O.L. since the league reportely won't let them do that:

It turns out that Manziel "contravened the agreement" to play in the CFL, though no specifics have yet been provided.

"We are disappointed by this turn of events. Johnny was provided a great deal of support by our organization, in collaboration with the CFL, but he has been unable to abide by the terms of his agreement," said Alouettes general manager Kavis Reed. "We worked with the league and presented alternatives to Johnny, who was unwilling to proceed."

Manziel's career in Canada could be described as both "overhyped" and "short-lived." In March 2017, the Heisman winner was added to the Hamilton Tiger-Cats negotiation list. Six months later, CFL commissioner Randy Ambrosie said that he wasn't prepared to approve a contract. However, by that December, conditions had been agreed upon to allow him to join the league. It was reported at the time that those conditions were a secret, as the following statement was released:

TMZ reports that the contract stipulated that he agree to weekly visits to a therapist, mandatory doctor visits, and required monthly lithium tests for his bipolar disorder. 

After a month with Hamilton, Manziel (and a couple of other players) were dealt to Montreal for two first-round picks (and a couple of other players). His debut was not pretty, but in eight starts, the ex-Texas A&M product would go on to complete 64 percent of his passes for 1,290 yards, five touchdowns, and seven interceptions.

Depending on the severity of the apparent transgression, one would think this transaction would be on the radars of nearly every AAF and XFL executive:

Worse ideas have been floated.