San Antonio Commanders general manager Daryl Johnston said Thursday that he thinks Alliance of American Football executives have been in conversations with Johnny Manziel and his representation about signing him to an AAF contract.

Manziel, a former Heisman Trophy winner at Texas A&M, was released by the Canadian Football League’s Montreal Alouettes on Wednesday. Were Manziel to sign with the Alliance, the Commanders would have first rights to him under the league’s regional allocation system.

Johnston said the Commanders have not had direct contact with Manziel or his representation. Johnston spoke to AAF chairman Tom Dundon on Wednesday.

“He was the one who informed me yesterday of what happened and that Johnny Manziel was now available,” Johnston said. “He just said, ‘He belongs to you in San Antonio, so what are your thoughts?’ I said, ‘Let’s just sit back and see what the league thinks, and we’ll move ahead from there.’ We’re in a holding pattern right now here locally.”

Johnston said he received indication Manziel would be “comfortable” with the salary structure of the Alliance’s three-year, $250,000 contracts for players.

The Alouettes announced that Manziel was released because he “contravened the agreement which made him eligible to play in the league.” Manziel will not be permitted to sign with any other CFL team, per the Alouettes’ release.

“My time there reestablished my love for the game of football and the work that goes into it,” Manziel posted to Twitter on Wednesday. “I look forward to exploring new options within the United States.”

On ExpressNews.com: After explosive start, San Antonio Commanders routed by San Diego Fleet

San Antonio Commanders coach Mike Riley said he has not discussed the possibility of adding Manziel with anyone in the organization.

Riley indicated that introducing a new quarterback could prove challenging as the Commanders prepare for Week 4 of a 10-game season.

“It would be interesting, for sure,” Riley said. “We’ve dealt with it a little bit. It’s tough to integrate, but in pro football, sometimes you have to do that. And that one in particular, like I said, I don’t know enough about it to even comment.”

Riley said Wednesday that quarterback Logan Woodside is in line to start Sunday at Birmingham. Woodside has been the Commanders’ primary quarterback throughout the season, completing 50 of 98 passes for 629 yards with two touchdowns and five interceptions.

“I like our quarterbacks,” Riley said. “What we have to do is make sure that we help him in every way that we can with a good running game, good protection, and making some plays. We can always do some things better, but I really like our quarterbacks group.”

Woodside said he’s continuing to work on meshing with the rest of the Commanders’ offense.

“I’m just trying to get better each day,” Woodside said. “It's a fast-paced game. Still just trying to do everything I can. I'm preparing the best I can every day. Trying to go out there and execute and have fun.”

Marquise Williams has also taken snaps at quarterback for San Antonio, completing 6 of 8 passes for 24 yards while running eight times for 65 yards.

Johnston said Williams provides a valuable change-up, leading a more run-based offense. For Woodside, Johnston said the focus is improving his completion percentage.

“When we made the decision at the start of the season to go with Logan Woodside, it was because Logan had played well down the stretch and was more aggressive down the field,” Johnston said. “Right now, we have to rein Logan back a little bit. … We’ve got too many mistakes. Too many critical mistakes.”

Woodside was the Commanders’ third-round choice in the Alliance of American Football’s quarterback draft, taken one selection after Williams came off the board at the end of the second round. San Antonio opened the draft by choosing to protect Dustin Vaughan from its roster of allocated quarterbacks, though Vaughan is yet to be active for a game this season.

Johnston praised Vaughan’s ability throughout the preseason but said he needs to be more aggressive taking shots down the field.

Riley was noncommittal regarding Vaughan’s role in the offense going forward.

“I don’t know yet. That's a little bit hard to predict,” Riley said. “We're playing two (quarterbacks) some. And as we go, we’ll see what that means in the future and how we can get them incorporated.”

greg.luca@express-news.net