This is unchartered territory for the Cleveland Browns.

A quarterback who’s actually playing close to a Pro Bowl level reportedly saying he won’t sign a long-term contract if the hot-shot rookie quarterback behind him on the depth chart is still with the team next season.

Brian Hoyer isn’t following the script. He’s supposed to stink out the joint most of the time and simply be glad he’s getting a paycheck.

Instead, Hoyer has taken to the starting job with the ease of a great actor wrapping his talents around a tailor-made role. Offensive coordinator Kyle Shanahan is the director calling the shots, and Hoyer is acting out his part to the tune of a 99.5 passer rating.

Now, if a report by Jason Cole of the “Bleacher Report” is accurate, Hoyer is causing a stir in the front office by stating his plan to not sign a contract if Johnny Manziel is around in 2015. Hoyer didn’t deny the report when asked about it more than once last Monday, saying that he wants to be a starter somewhere.

In Hoyer’s world, that somewhere would be his hometown of Cleveland, where he’s managed to slow down LeBron talk in the days leading up to the start of the NBA season. There’s no question where his heart is and where he’d like to make more “Mr. Hero” commercials.

The problem is there’s this cocky kid from Texas on the sideline who creates legitimate curiosity about what he might do if given a chance to play. That intrigue is apparently on the mind of coach Mike Pettine, who told Peter King of “Sports Illustrated” this week that “nothing has changed for us with him (Manziel). We’re hopeful he’s going to be our quarterback one day. We just don’t know the day.”

Pettine has been shrewd in his dealings with the media, but his comments to King were a lapse in judgment. He all but told a starting quarterback who’s growing in on-field confidence and off-the-field bravado that the rookie wearing the ball cap on game days will eventually be the starter.

No one knows for sure how good or bad Hoyer’s relationship is with Manziel. Hoyer did say in a joking way during the offseason that he and Manziel probably won’t be sending Christmas cards to each other. The comment came off more as an admission that the two enjoy polar opposite lifestyles that wouldn’t cross paths even by chance.

The best guess of anyone is that Hoyer probably wasn’t pleased when he learned that cameras caught Manziel giggling to fellow backup quarterback Connor Shaw when the Browns were being steamrolled recently by the Tennessee Titans. Hoyer rallied the Browns from a 25-point deficit to leave Nashville with an improbable 29-28 win.

We can only wait and see how management plays out this drama. General manager Ray Farmer has the option of using a franchise tag on Hoyer, which would give him the average salary of the five highest-paid quarterbacks in the NFL (around $18 million for one season).

It’s an expensive proposition in buying one year to deal with Manziel’s future. Trading Manziel would be problematic in that the Browns likely won’t receive the compensation they’d prefer – a first-round pick. No team would be willing to give up a number one pick for an unproven quarterback with Manziel’s reputation for causing controversy.

None of this would be an issue if Hoyer takes care of his business in the manner he has to date and doesn’t make demands of the front office to do something about the Manziel problem. Then the Browns would have three more years to decide if Hoyer is the long-term answer or if Manziel should get his chance.

For all we know, Hoyer and Manziel are bosom buddies who get together one night each week for milk and cookies and watch Seinfeld repeats. Hoyer, in that case, would never make a demand that his best friend be moved out of town.

Then again, probably not.