Johnny Manziel signs with CFL's Hamilton Tiger-Cats

Johnny Manziel will continue his comeback north of the border in the Canadian Football League.

Manziel announced Saturday that he has decided to sign his contract with the CFL's Hamilton Tiger-Cats, who own the Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback's rights.

"It's going to be a learning curve," Manziel said in an interview with Barstool Sports. "I think it'll be fun. It's definitely not the NFL, but there have been guys who've gone up there and have come back.

"A lot more (at) the quarterback position that have done it back in the day than they have done it more recently, but still there's been guys who've recently come back and forth all the time."

The Tiger-Cats, who open their training camp Sunday, are expected to formally announce the signing later Saturday, a source told ESPN's Kevin Seifert. Hamilton's preseason opener is June 1.

Manziel was released by the Cleveland Browns in March 2016 and did not play organized football in 2017. He played in the developmental Spring League last month.

"The consensus that I've got from talking to people around the NFL is even if you come back to the league, you're not getting a chance to start anywhere right away, you're not going to get a chance to really play other than a couple preseason games and here and there," he said Saturday. "So, the thing that I got from everyone was, 'You need to just go play, get some reps under your belt, get a chance to go play real live football again wherever that may be.'"