The Cleveland Browns did not dangle Johnny Manziel when they attempted to acquire Sam Bradford from the St. Louis Rams.

Now all of a sudden they’re going to offer Manziel to the Philadelphia Eagles for the same player?

I don’t buy it; not today, not yesterday, not tomorrow.

The Browns aren't going to flip a first-round pick to the Eagles for perhaps one year of Sam Bradford. AP Photo/Matt Slocum

That didn’t stop a possible Manziel-and-picks-for-Bradford trade to catch notice in Philadelphia. That deal has been floated online on a site called ChatSports.com in a report that says the Browns offered Manziel and a draft pick for the quarterback the Eagles just acquired in a trade. The report is attributed to “a source very close to an agent involved in the talks,” and adds that both sides are motivated to complete the trade.

Never say never in the business of personnel machinations, but this just doesn’t add up. On several fronts. I’m in agreement with my colleague Phil Sheridan in Philadelphia that the proposed deal sounds like lingering smoke from a previously distant fire.

First, the Browns did not include Manziel in any offer to the Rams prior to St. Louis sending Bradford to the Eagles for Nick Foles and a second-round pick. The Browns offered the 19th pick. It’s possible, I suppose, that the Browns might have tried to get Bradford from the Eagles for a second-round pick and Manziel, but I doubt it.

The Browns all along have said they want to see what they have in Manziel when he comes out of rehab. They have not given up on him, and in fact the owner has made the point that it would be wrong and unfair to give up on him after only one season and seven quarters.

The Browns are not counting on him though, especially this season. They can’t. Because they don’t know what lingering effects his personal struggles will carry. But will they accept a healthy and able Manziel? Absolutely.

The hope clearly is that if Manziel becomes more complete off the field he will be more complete on the field. Then maybe the team can get something from last year’s second first-round pick.

Finally, there’s the little deal of Bradford’s contract, which has one year left at $12.985 million. To give up a first-round pick for him the Browns naturally would have to require that Bradford sign a contract extension.

Bradford would not do that for the Browns, but he will for the Eagles. Suddenly he’s going to change his mind about the Browns after being traded from the Eagles?

The contract refusal alone was reason enough for the Browns not to acquire him. A first-round pick for a one-year rental? Not worth it.

Then there’s the insistence by the Eagles and Chip Kelly that he did not acquire Bradford to trade him. It’s always possible that could be posturing, but Kelly has been adamant. And as Sheridan points out the Eagles have been selling Bradford jerseys since the day of the trade. It wouldn’t make sense to do that and then turn around and insult the fans who pay for the tickets by dealing Bradford so quickly.

For all these factors to suddenly shift would involve a tsunami of change.

It’s folly to give absolutes in these situations, but I don’t see the trade’s logic, nor do I see it happening.