Johnny Manziel gets NFL drug ban for first four games of the season... despite not having a team

Troubled quarterback Johnny Manziel has been suspended for the first four games of next season for violating the NFL's substance-abuse policy.

The suspension announced Thursday is not related to the NFL's domestic violence policy, but the free agent quarterback would be subject to it if he signs with another team.

Manziel, released by the Cleveland Browns in March, is facing an assault charge in Dallas involving former girlfriend Colleen Crowley. The league is reviewing that case.

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Troubled quarterback Johnny Manziel has been suspended for the first four games of NFL's next season

Party all the time: Johnny Manziel landed in Cabo San Lucas on Tuesday wearing a Cleveland Browns jersey

Johnny Manziel posted a defiant Instagram post from Mexico sending a message to his father who recently branded him a 'druggie' 

The 2012 Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback from Texas A&M was suspended the same week he posted pictures on Instagram from Cabo San Lucas, Mexico.

The post included a reference to his father, Paul Manziel, who called his son a 'druggie' following a report from The Associated Press of one of his attorneys mistakenly sending a text that indicated doubts whether Manziel could stay clean.  

Manziel had been living it up in Cabo San Lucas, with the out-of-work football player enjoying his time in a $7.5million mansion stocked with models.

He was spotted heading down to the Mexican resort destination on Tuesday and photographed on the plane wearing a Josh Gordon jersey, with unconfirmed reports claiming that the Cleveland Browns wide receiver might be with him on the trip. 

UGA Insider posted the photos of Manziel on Twitter saying his friend was on the same plane, and later wrote: 'Friend of mine is also on the plane with Johnny. He sent me these.Told me Josh Gordon is also on the plane and that they smelt so strongly of weed that passengers were looking at each other/laughing.'

Manziel meanwhile wrote on Twitter: '@flashgordonxii I won't take this thing off for a week. You my brother FOR LIFE. JUST WAIT ON THIS COMEBACK!!!!'

The 'hi Dad' is referring to an interview the 23-year-old's father gave in which he branded the former Cleveland Browns star a 'druggie' who needs to go to jail

Pretty ladies: The 23-year-old partied at a $7.5 million mansion with a bevy of models (including Playboy model Daisy Lea above)

Lea, Playboy's Miss May 2015, gazing out into the waters off the coast of Mexico

Lea wasn't the only female sharing the view from Manziel's retreat on Tuesday 

He also added the hashtag 'hiDad' - a reference to the interview Paul Manziel gave to ESPN in which he stated his son was a 'druggie'.

Manziel also included the hashtag '#JoshAintHere' after reports Gordon had joined him on the trip.

Gordon was suspended for the entire 2015 season after violating the league's substance abuse policy.

One of the many models on the trip, Playboy's Miss May 2015 Daisy Lea, posted an Instagram photo and multiple Snapchats of the vacation.   

Earlier Manziel's father said his son was a 'druggie'.

'It's not a secret that he's a druggie,' he said in an interview. 'I don't know what to say other than my son is a druggie and he needs help. He hasn't seeked it yet.

'Hopefully he doesn't die before he comes to his senses. That's about all you can say. I don't know what else to say.

'I hate to say it but I hope he goes to jail. I mean, that would be the best place for him. So we'll see.' 

His comments came as an attorney handling his son's domestic violence case expressed doubts about the former Cleveland Brown star's ability to stay clean. 

In a lengthy text accidentally sent to the Associated Press, defense attorney Bob Hinton said he was given a receipt that shows Manziel may have spent more than $1,000 at a drug paraphernalia store just 15 hours after he was involved in a hit-and-run crash.

Hinton's text indicated Manziel's legal team was seeking a plea deal with prosecutors, but suggested that could be tricky.

Claim: 'Friend of mine is also on the plane with Johnny. He sent me these. Told me Josh Gordon is also on the plane and that they smelt so strongly of weed that passengers were looking at each other/laughing,' wrote one Twitter user

'Heaven help us if one of the conditions is to pee in a bottle,' the attorney wrote.

Hinton also wrote that he had been emailed a 'heads up' receipt 'which purports to reflect' that Manziel made a purchase of $1,018.77 at a Gas Pipe store at 12.03pm on Tuesday, less than a day after his crash. 

A manager at a Gas Pipe location not far from where Manziel's crash reportedly declined to discuss whether he bought anything there. A sign in the store says ID is required for purchases above $200.

'I don't know if the receipt is legitimate or not,' Hinton responded when asked about it by the AP. 

'I just know that it doesn't say Johnny's name on it anywhere that I can see. It's just that somebody in that store, I guess, circulated that to the other store managers and employees saying, "Guess who was here today and spent this amount of money." That's all I know.'

More pics: Lea filmed multiple Snapchats of her first day of vacation in Mexico

Manziel (pictured) is accused of hitting and threatening former girlfriend Colleen Crowley during a night out in January

The errant text was sent after the AP sought comment via text about Monday night's crash.

When asked about the text, Hinton said he had meant to send it to another attorney on the case and was unaware the AP had received it instead. 

He insisted the contents were protected by attorney-client privilege and threatened to sue if certain details were published.

The text shows that Manziel's attorneys are pushing for leniency, even as they grapple with indications he could still be struggling with substance abuse more than a year after his stay in a rehab center. 

The charges the former Cleveland Browns quarterback is facing come amid heightened scrutiny of legal cases involving professional athletes following domestic violence accusations against NFL players Ray Rice and Greg Hardy.

The 23-year-old Manziel is accused of hitting and threatening former girlfriend Colleen Crowley during a night out in January. 

He faces a misdemeanor assault charge that carries a penalty of up to a year in jail and a $4,000 fine.  

The allegations stem from a night out on January 30. 

Crowley alleged Manziel accosted her at a Dallas hotel, a confrontation that continued downstairs to the valet station. She said he forced her into a car and that a valet disregarded her pleas for help.

The two eventually drove to where her car was parked in front of a Dallas bar, she said in an affidavit. 

She said Manziel got into the driver's seat and began to drive. Crowley said Manziel stopped when she tried to jump out of the car, but that he then dragged her back inside and hit her.

Manziel denies the allegations.

Paul Manziel (pictured together when Johnny was a child) said: 'He's a druggie. It's not a secret that he's a druggie. 'I don't know what to say other than my son is a druggie and he needs help'

Johnny Manziel's father Paul (pictured together left) said his son (right) is a 'druggie' who needs help, and he hopes he ends up in jail because it may be the 'best place for him'