Browns’ hiring of Hue Jackson appears to signal end of Johnny Manziel era

Hue Jackson is the new coach of the Cleveland Browns. And that likely means Johnny Manziel is set to become an ex-member of the Browns.

Browns owner Jimmy Haslam announced the hiring in a statement Wednesday.

“He embodies all the qualities that will provide strong leadership for our football team,” Haslam said of Jackson. “He is highly experienced, deeply passionate about winning, and relentless in trying to find ways to put his players in the best position to succeed. He possesses that unique ability to reach the entire locker room in a way that demands accountability while getting the buy-in and team-first mentality that leads to positive results.”

Jackson said in the same statement: “I think what our fans will be proud of and excited about is we’re going to be a football team that’s going to play very excited football. We’re going to be passionate about what we do and we understand there’s a lot of work involved in order to meet our goals.”

Jackson was head coach of the Oakland Raiders in 2011 and has spent the last two seasons as the Cincinnati Bengals’ offensive coordinator. Haslam did not attend the NFL relocation vote in Houston on Tuesday in order to stay in Cleveland to help persuade Jackson to take the job.

“They made me feel comfortable,” Jackson told NFL Media’s Michael Silver.

Jackson chose the job with the Browns over the San Francisco 49ers, according to Fox Sports Mark Garafolo, who added that Jackson would get “a big say in personnel” in Cleveland.

And one of those personnel moves would undoubtedly involve troubled second-year quarterback Manziel, according to multiple media reports. Garafolo said that Jackson “made it clear he’d want to move on from Johnny.”

The Browns have the No. 2 overall pick in the draft.