Written by Mike Triplett at ESPN.com
Sean Payton says his Super Bowl-week meeting with Johnny Manziel was just a get-to-know-you session with the embattled quarterback, who is eyeing an NFL comeback.
Payton told the New Orleans Saints’ website Tuesday that it was the first time he met Manziel. He said the meeting was a “much different phase” than the Saints’ recent visits with restricted free-agent cornerback Malcolm Butler or numerous draft prospects.
“That is a little different [situation],” Payton said from the NFL owners meetings in Arizona. “I wasn’t involved in the draft process in [2014], the year [Manziel] came out. And so I met him and had breakfast at the Super Bowl. I was curious, really, to get to know him some. He’s got a number of things that he’s working to do to make himself available.
“I certainly would say that for us it was just a chance for me to visit with him. And that would be in a much different phase than Malcolm Butler or some of the things we’re discussing as we approach the draft. It was the first time I met him, and look, we spent some time just kind of going through his story.”
Payton said a report that the Saints could sign Manziel down the road was “false” but that it was important to meet with all players who could potentially help the team.
“Kicking the tires and getting to know people, that’s our job,” Payton said at the owners meetings Wednesday.
Manziel has been training with quarterbacks coach George Whitfield in San Diego since telling ESPN’s Ed Werder in January that he achieved sobriety without seeking professional help and hopes to return to the NFL.
“Football is his absolute focus right now,” Manziel’s publicist, Denise Michaels, recently told ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler.
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