INDIANAPOLIS -- With presumably no chance of landing Johnny Manziel in the 2014 NFL Draft, the Dallas Cowboys want to talk to the former Texas A&M star anyway at the NFL Scouting Combine.
And they've used one of their 60 allotted interviews to do it.
The Cowboys are among the NFL clubs scheduled to speak with Manziel on Friday night, according to espn.com. The Cowboys draft at No. 16 in the first round, and Manziel is expected to be chosen among the first teams with a need at quarterback. Dallas made a strong financial commitment to veteran Tony Romo last year with a $106 million contract extension.
With 335 prospects on hand at Lucas Oil Stadium, teams have to be judicious with which 60 players -- less than 20 percent of the field per team -- they choose to interview.
Other teams known to be planning to interview Manziel include the Houston Texans and Jacksonville Jaguars. Both of those teams, drafting first and third, respectively, in the first round make sense, considering their needs at quarterback.
The decision to interview Manziel would make plenty of sense if the Cowboys had intentions of trading up to acquire the dynamic former Heisman Trophy winner, but club owner Jerry Jones said last month that he doesn't expect the team to pick a quarterback early in the draft.
"I don't anticipate drafting a quarterback high with where we are with Romo, especially one that might can play immediately and several of these guys in today's NFL are playing pretty quick, [Seattle's Russell] Wilson, and [San Francisco's Colin] Kaepernick, and those guys who are move-around types, some of those guys who take a little more seasoning are your traditional quarterbacks, so all of that would figure in," he said.
Assuming Jones hasn't had a change of heart since that remark was made about a month ago, it's anyone's guess as to why the Cowboys would use an interview on a quarterback who won't be available, and who they would have no interest in choosing early anyway.
Perhaps Jones just couldn't help but unite Texas' biggest college star with the fabled blue star, even if just for a brief conversation.
*Follow Chase Goodbread on Twitter **@ChaseGoodbread.*
