The scheme was widely known in the sales department

The truck-stop company owned by Cleveland Browns owner Jimmy Haslam and Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam has agreed to pay a $92 million penalty for cheating customers out of promised rebates and discounts, authorities announced Monday.

In an agreement with the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of Tennessee, Pilot Flying J has accepted responsibility for the criminal conduct of its employees, ten of whom have pleaded guilty to participating in the scheme.

For its part, the government has agreed not to prosecute the nation's largest diesel retailer as long as Pilot abides by the agreement. Among other conditions, Pilot has agreed to cooperate with an ongoing investigation of current and former employees. The agreement does not protect any individual at Pilot from prosecution.

The agreement was signed by U.S. Attorney Bill Killian on Thursday and attorneys for Knoxville-based Pilot on Friday.

Nashville criminal defense attorney and former prosecutor David Raybin, who has followed the case but is not involved, said the agreement most likely signals that Pilot CEO Jimmy Haslam will not face charges.

''No prosecutor would enter into an agreement like this, ask for this kind of sanction, unless they didn't have enough evidence to indict Haslam,'' he said. ''Also, Pilot would not agree to pay unless they felt the government would not prosecute him.''

FBI special agent Robert H. Root said in an affidavit filed in federal court last year that the scheme was known by a variety of euphemisms including ''manual rebates.'' Sales team members would make reduce the amount of money due to trucking company customers they deemed to be too unsophisticated to notice, according to the affidavit.

The scheme was widely known in the sales department, according to court documents, with supervisors teaching other employees how to do it.

Court records said the scheme lasted from at least 2007 until an FBI raid in April 2013.

Jimmy Haslam has said he was unaware of the scheme. Through a spokesman, he declined an interview on Monday, but issued a statement: ''We, as a company, look forward to putting this whole unfortunate episode behind us, continuing our efforts to rectify the damage done, regaining our customers' trust, and getting on with our business.''

Gov. Bill Haslam holds an undisclosed ownership share in the company but has said he is not involved in Pilot's day-to-day operations. Pilot has annual revenues of around $30 billion.

In May, several top executives abruptly left the company. Pilot officials have not said why the employees left, but the agreement with prosecutors acknowledges that the company has terminated or placed on leave employees who violated company policies. It also acknowledges that Pilot acted quickly to investigate problems with the rebate program and repay cheated customers with interest.

Pilot agreed in November to pay out nearly $85 million to settle claims related to the fraudulent withholding of fuel rebates and discounts in a class-action lawsuit with 5,500 trucking companies. Several companies have filed separate lawsuits against Pilot that are ongoing.

Dion Lewis will need to find his way into the mix

Cleveland Browns coach Mike Pettine made it clear this spring that he doesn't see his backfield as a one-man show.

Ben Tate -- signed to a free-agent deal in March -- figures to see the most touches. Third-round pick Terrance West impressed coaches in OTAs and minicamp and will likely assume an immediate role.

Dion Lewis will need to find his way into the mix. The fourth-year scatback likely would've gotten his crack at the starting job last season after Trent Richardson was traded to the Indianapolis Colts. Unfortunately for Lewis, he broke his leg in the preseason and never got his chance.

Lewis was asked last month where he believes he stands in a Browns backfield that has transformed in the last year.

"I don't know," Lewis said, according to the Akron Beacon Journal. "I'm still very excited to get back there and prove that I'm 100 percent recovered from the injury. With new coaches, everybody is learning a new system. So I feel like I've learned the system well, and I'm looking forward to getting out there and competing with the rest of the guys."

Lewis won't be around long for Cleveland if he can't get healthy. He sat out most of OTAs and all of mandatory minicamp with an undisclosed injury he said isn't related to last August's leg injury, which also included ligament damage. Lewis is optimistic he'll be ready for training camp on July 26.

He'll need to be to have any chance in Cleveland's RB derby.

Quote:Dion Lewis - Dion John Lewis (born September 27, 1990) is an American football running back for the Cleveland Browns of the National Football League (NFL). He was drafted by the Philadelphia Eagles in the fifth round of the 2011 NFL Draft. He played college football at Pittsburgh.

Just call him Johnny Baseball

Just call him Johnny Baseball.

Cleveland Browns quarterback Johnny Manziel was selected by the San Diego Padres in the 28th round of the Major League Baseball draft Saturday - the 837th player taken.

Manziel was listed as a shortstop for Texas A&M, although he never played for the Aggies as he focused on football. He hasn't played baseball since high school and probably won't see the diamond again as he embarks on his NFL career, but was happy the Padres took a swing at him.

''Big thank you to the (at)Padres and (at)padresmikedee for selecting me in the MLB draft,'' Manziel wrote on his Twitter page. ''What a great day!''

Mike Dee, the Padres' president and CEO, tweeted back: ''Best athlete on the board... (hash)JohnnyBaseball.''

Manziel, the first freshman to win the Heisman Trophy in 2012, was taken by the Browns with the 22nd overall pick in the NFL draft last month.

''It was kind of, 'Why not?''' Padres general manager Josh Byrnes said Saturday before the Padres hosted the Washington Nationals.

In May 2013, Manziel visited the Padres when he was in San Diego to work with a quarterbacks coach.

''He certainly loves baseball,'' Byrnes said. ''We kind of talked about it at that time, 'Do you want us to draft you?' He said, 'Yeah, absolutely.'''

Why in the 28th round?

''We really liked our 27th-rounder,'' Byrnes said.

Asked the odds of actually signing Manziel, Byrnes, a big football fan, just smiled.

Manziel played baseball and football at Tivy High School in Kerrville, Texas, and asked Texas A&M coaches about being part of the baseball team before winning the Aggies' starting quarterback job as a redshirt freshman.

Earlier this week, Manziel - decked out in an Indians jersey - was set to throw out the first pitch in Cleveland before the Indians played Boston. He warmed up earlier with Indians pitcher Josh Tomlin, but his toss was washed out by rain that delayed the start.

But, in May 2013, Manziel took batting practice with the Padres at Petco Park and tossed out a football-style first pitch as he dropped back, scrambled to the side of the mound and floated a bootleg ''pass'' to San Diego outfielder Mark Kotsay, who caught it behind his back with his glove.

On Manziel's first swing in batting practice, the bat flew out of his hands, but he settled down and later drove a pitch off the right-field wall.

''I didn't know he played baseball,'' Padres right-hander Ian Kennedy said Saturday. ''Anybody in Texas probably plays all those sports, football, baseball.''

Padres closer Huston Street, who pitched at Texas and whose late father, James, played quarterback for the Longhorns, liked the pick, even if Manziel did play for the Aggies.

''I'm a fan. I think he's an exciting player,'' Street said. ''I think he's good for sport. I think he plays hard. I don't know if he'll ever wear a Padre uniform, but it sure is exciting that the organization took him. I know he hung out here last year a couple times and everybody really enjoyed his presence. Everybody liked him. I came away from that day thinking, 'Man, that's a good dude, that's a cool guy.' It seemed like he was a very focused, mentally strong guy. He wanted to do something. We know what he can do in football.

''Heck, if he wants to come out here and hang around before games ... I don't know if they let 28th-round picks do that,'' Street said. ''But he's a great athlete. I don't think anybody expects to see him in the big leagues, but maybe he's going to try and do both. I don't know. If he does, he's one of the more competitive people I've been around. We'll see what happens with his football career. He's potentially got a baseball one.''

Street isn't sure if Johnny Football would try both sports.

''I would tell him to don't try to be a jack-of-all-trades and a master of none,'' Street said. ''But at the same time, it's been done before. I don't know about at the quarterback position. A little bit tougher position.''

Big-time quarterbacks are no stranger to recent Major League Baseball drafts. John Elway, Dan Marino, Tom Brady, Daunte Culpepper, Colin Kaepernick and Jake Locker were all drafted by big league teams but instead stuck to the gridiron.

Russell Wilson of the Super Bowl-champion Seattle Seahawks was a 41st-round selection by Baltimore out of high school in 2007, but opted to go to North Carolina State. He was a fourth-rounder of Colorado in 2010 and played in the Rockies' system as a second baseman.

Wilson, who had transferred to Wisconsin, told the Rockies in January 2012 that he wanted to pursue an NFL career, and in December 2013 was acquired by the Texas Rangers in the Rule 5 draft. A few weeks after winning the Super Bowl, Wilson attended Rangers spring training and participated in infield drills.

Next year, Florida State's Jameis Winston could be in the same situation as Manziel. The Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback also is a hard-throwing closer for the Seminoles' baseball team. Winston was already a 15th-round pick of the Rangers in 2012.

Quote:Johnny Manziel -- Jonathan Paul Manziel (man-zel; born December 6, 1992), also known by his nickname "Johnny Football", is an American football quarterback for the Cleveland Browns of the National Football League (NFL), and a baseball shortstop drafted in 2014 by the San Diego Padres of Major League Baseball (MLB).
He was drafted by the Browns with the 22nd overall pick of the 2014 NFL Draft. He was nationally recruited out of high school as a dual-threat quarterback.In 2012, Manziel debuted for the Texas A&M Aggies as a redshirt freshman in Kevin Sumlin's Air Raid offense during A&M's first season in the SEC. He broke numerous NCAA Division I FBS and SEC records, which include becoming the first freshman and fifth player in NCAA history to pass for 3,000 yards and rush for 1,000 yards in a season.At the end of the regular season, he became the first freshman to win the Heisman Trophy,Manning Award,and the Davey O'Brien National Quarterback Award.Manziel capitalized on his redshirt freshman season by leading Texas A&M to a 41–13 victory over Oklahoma in the 2013 Cotton Bowl Classic.