The Facts: No player carries more weight inside the Browns’ locker room than Joe Thomas, the eight-time Pro Bowl left tackle. Comments Thomas made to ESPN Cleveland serve as the clearest barometer of Manziel’s challenge to win back his teammates in the coming weeks. “I think he’s going to have to prove to the team that football is important and being the man, being the starting quarterback for the Browns, is important, it is his goal, his single goal in his life,” Thomas said.

Diehards Line: Recently, ESPN’s respected insider Chris Mortensen said that the Browns have “90 percent moved on” from Manziel. But that opinion contradicted comments made by GM Ray Farmer and coach Mike Pettine at NFL league meetings in Phoenix, AZ, two weeks ago. But if Thomas is right, the second-year signal caller, who should be released from a rehab program soon, has a lot of work to do -- and it's not all on the field. “You know, I think he lost probably a lot of trust among the guys on the team last year by the way he handled himself once he became the starter," Thomas said. "I’m hoping when we comes back in April we see a new Johnny and everybody’s blown away with his commitment. And I think he’s got the talent, so it’s just a matter of if he commits himself to it, we can have a really good quarterback on our hands.” Like many, Thomas is tired of words and wants to see Manziel act instead of talk.