LeBron James

LeBron's marketing agency drops Johnny Manziel -- are Browns next?

Published Jan. 6, 2016 7:52 p.m. ET

foxsports

Was the wig and the fake mustache the final straw? And is that straw about to break the camel's back that is Johnny Manziel's career as a football player/celebrity -- at least as far as Cleveland is concerned?

On the same day that we heard LeBron James express his concern about Manziel's off-field behavior, James' marketing agency, LRMR, announced it was dropping Manziel as a client.

"We've decided to end our formal business relationship with Johnny," Maverick Carter, James' friend who runs LRMR, told cleveland.com. "... Because Johnny needs to focus on personal growth, the next phase of his career and because LRMR continues to expand beyond marketing, we made the mutual decision that it was best to terminate our business relationship."

Is LRMR's move a prelude to the next shoe -- in this case, football cleats -- to drop? With the Cleveland Browns installing a new administration that includes analytics maven Paul DePodesta, they don't need advanced metrics to conclude that a quarterback with Manziel's mediocre record -- 2-6 as a starter, seven touchdowns and seven interceptions and a career passer rating of 74.4 -- and continued off-field issues is a whole lot more trouble than he's worth. And the new Cleveland front office is even further removed from the decision to draft Manziel in the first round in 2014.

Following LeBron's lead, the Browns could well be next to cut Johnny Football loose. Then we'll see if Jerry Jones does indeed still want Manziel in Dallas. Maybe Jones could find him a new marketing agency, too.