With Tony Sparano throwing away his chance to have the interim tag removed from his title as head coach of the Oakland Raiders, the talk has returned to Jon Gruden. And Johnny Manziel?
NFL.com's Ian Rappaport reported Sunday that Jon Gruden spent much of the first day of the NFL Draft trying to convince the Raiders to draft the Texas A&M quarterback and 2012 Heisman Trophy winner.
"According to three Raider sources, Jon Gruden, who is very close with owner Mark Davis and several people within the Raiders franchise - he spent the first round of the draft imploring the Raiders to draft Johnny Manziel," Rappaport told NFL Network's Rich Eisen. (Gruden) believed that (Manziel) had a better chance of being a franchise quarterback, more than anyone else. And he said Manziel would be the one to fix the Raiders' problems."
That led Rappaport to share why Gruden, an analyst for ESPN, had such an interest in a team he coached over a decade ago.
Jon Gruden sidesteps question of coaching the Raiders in 2015
"(Gruden) told one close friend, 'If I come back to the NFL, the only job I'd come back for would be the Oakland Raiders,' " Rappaport said.
Instead the Raider selected Derek Carr in the second round. Carr has thrown for 1,189 yards in six starts with eight touchdowns and five interceptions, but the Raiders are 0-7.
Gruden is considered a quarterback guru and still could come to the Raiders to work with the Fresno State product. Or, the Raiders could try to orchestrate a trade for Manziel, who appears to be the Browns future quarterback but still is sitting on the bench while journeyman quarterback Brian Hoyer guides the team this season.
The Browns could be wary of Manziel after this offseason antics, which were well-documented, their expression of concern and his decision to ignore those concerns.
Gruden, however, did several segments with NFL-bound college quarterbacks for ESPN and may have found a rapport with Manziel.
Of course, if Manziel remains in Cleveland, and the Raiders want to appease Gruden, they might consider going after Manziel 2.0 in the 2015 NFL Draft.
Florida State's Jameis Winston.
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