Which NFL team ultimately wins the Arch Manning sweepstakes three years from now when he enters the NFL Draft is already one of the more talked about topics in the NFL.
The Texas Longhorns sophomore signal-caller has started just two games in two seasons, but he's already one of the biggest stars in college football.
With his family pedigree - his uncles are legendary NFL QBs Peyton and Eli Manning, and his grandfather Archie Manning was two-time Pro Bowl QB with the New Orleans Saints - and his designation as the top overall recruit of the class of 2023, Arch will likely be a top-10 draft selection whenever he decides to leave college.
With several teams salivating at the thought of making him their franchise QB, Archie was recently asked by a fan which team he'd like to see his grandson end up on, to which his response seemed to be the Dallas Cowboys. But now, Archie says that the whole situation was actually misconstrued.
"That is something that kind of got out of hand," Archie told SI.com. "I was just being nice to a patron. I told him I hoped Arch would play three years of college football, and he said, ‘And then maybe to the Cowboys?' I said, ‘That'd be fine with me.' I didn't know he was going to put that on TikTok or whatever, I don't know what TikTok is. I didn't know it was going viral, as they say."
If the Cowboys did draft Arch in 2028, it would make all the sense in the world.
He's already popular among Texas sports fans, Cowboys owner Jerry Jones has likely had his eye on him for quite some time, and their current QB Dak Prescott's four-year contract would be nearing its end around the time Arch declares for the draft.
The Manning family has ties to the Saints, Indianapolis Colts, Denver Broncos and New York Giants, and it's possible three of those teams could be looking for a new QB three years from now as well.
Placing Arch on an NFL team seems like a fool's errand at this point being so far out from when he'll actually enter the draft. But as everyone saw during Eli's draft year - he was picked No. 1 overall by the Chargers, a team he said he would never play for, and traded to the Giants three picks later - the Mannings will likely try to make sure Arch ends up in a good situation.
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This story was originally published December 12, 2024, 2:03 AM.