The Cleveland Browns have an interesting situation brewing under center.
Five months after drafting a savior at quarterback in Johnny Manziel, it's Brian Hoyer who has taken command of a team that sits at a surprising 3-2.
A free agent after the season, Hoyer on Wednesday shot down a Bleacher Report dispatch suggesting that he won't agree to a long-term deal with the Browns if Manziel remains on the roster, telling reporters that the rumor "couldn't be further from the truth."
"That's 100 percent false," Hoyer's agent, Joe Linta, told Tom Reed of The Plain Dealer.
Hoyer said Monday that he wants to remain in Cleveland, "but I'm also a competitor, so I want to be somewhere where I'm playing."
Currently leading the NFL with 13.6 yards per completion, Hoyer sports a 99.5 passer rating to go with his 6-2 mark as a Browns starter. Showing growing chemistry with play-caller Kyle Shanahan, Hoyer's rise has all but made Johnny Football an afterthought.
That success, though, has yet to kick-start Cleveland's front office into action. Linta told NFL Media Insider Ian Rapoport on Wednesday that "there have been no talks" since the spring, when the Browns offered Hoyer a long-term extension.
That offer, though, tried to pay Hoyer as a backup, which he appeared to be after drafting Manziel. Now Hoyer's camp is willing to wait until the end of the season -- and even until the end of the playoffs -- to negotiate his value.
Hoyer, after all, would like to be paid as a solid starter, Rapoport was told. With the passer's potential cost rising with every solid outing, Rapoport pointed to November 1 as a checkpoint to re-open talks.
"The reason why Hoyer may want to agree to a deal: It minimizes his injury risk," Rapoport said. "At this point he is being paid basically the minimum. If he gets injured he has no security."
In the meantime, Linta promised The Plain Dealer that Hoyer's contract status won't distract him from performing on Sundays.
"Brian's heartbeat doesn't go above 50 (beats per minute) on the field or off it," Linta said. "He's been very calm about this."
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