Arch Manning linked to 'secret' NFL team amid Browns, Nick Saban gossip

Arch Manning is yet to take a snap as the starting quarterback at Texas in 2025, but he’s already the subject of some very early, and some fantastical, NFL Draft rumor mongering.

Sports broadcaster Colin Cowherd floated a wild theory that linked both a speculative Nick Saban coaching return and Manning to the Cleveland Browns.

And now, NFL Draft analyst Todd McShay has added his own theory to the equation, leaving a hint as to what other team could be interested in Manning.

“Not refuting this as a ‘worst-kept secret.’ But it’s not the only situation to monitor,” McShay said of Cowherd’s speculation in an X post.

He added: “There’s another team with two first-round picks in ‘26 whose GM’s son is a close friend to Arch at Texas. And the HC has a pretty good history with QBs. Just sayin...”

With that very particular piece of information, we can conclude that the team in question would be the Los Angeles Rams, which, aside from the Browns, are the only other franchise that currently has two first-round selections in the 2026 NFL Draft.

The other hint was McShay’s note that the mystery team’s current head coach has a good history with quarterbacks, which you could argue Sean McVay certainly does, helping Jared Goff to an NFC Championship Game appearance and Matthew Stafford to a Super Bowl victory.

In the end, this speculation is just adding even more pressure to a young quarterback who carries a very famous surname on the back of his jersey, but is yet to even establish himself as a proven commodity throwing the football.

That hasn’t stopped the speculation, nor the activity at America’s sports books, where Manning is the odds-on favorite at +270 to be named the No. 1 overall draft pick in 2026, according to the lines at FanDuel Sportsbook.

The connection to the Browns is interesting, too, given team owner Jimmy Haslam’s connection to the SEC and the Manning family, according to Cowherd’s reasoning.

“Haslam, Jimmy, owner of the Browns. Huge SEC, Tennessee booster. Leans heavily on the Manning family. Very close to the Manning family,” Cowherd said.

“Arch Manning is a part of the Manning family, and this is where Nick Saban comes in. Saban is incredibly close to not only Jimmy Haslam, but Saban is close to the Manning family, as well.

“So, Saban, if he could land a top quarterback, I’m told... He would take a phone call for the NFL. There are two teams guaranteed to be awful this year in the NFL: Cleveland and the Saints.”

Cowherd then recalled that Saban coached in Cleveland with Bill Belichick and that “the Mannings are royalty to Jimmy Haslam... The circle of trust for Jimmy Haslam is the Manning family and Jimmy Sexton [Saban’s agent]. Saban, Manning, Haslam, South.”

“This is not a conspiracy theory,” he said.

Well, it might be, but it’s interesting to talk about while we wait for Arch Manning to take a snap for Texas this year.

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