The Cleveland Browns are back in the Arch Manning rumor mill, and it didn’t take long.
Just one game into the 2026 NFL season, NFL insider Jason La Canfora reported that an NFL personnel executive said Browns owner Jimmy Haslam wants the Texas quarterback, while Deshaun Watson wants out. The executive’s quote was blunt: “Haslam wants (Texas QB) Arch Manning, that’s what this is really all about.”
That buzz arrives during a messy stretch for Manning himself. After Texas’ win over Ohio State, he came under fire for appearing to laugh at an AI-generated video showing ESPN reporter Holly Rowe being slapped.
Manning later addressed the backlash and apologized publicly. Rowe then spoke out on the matter, turning an already strange week around Texas football into something even louder.
The Browns’ reported fascination with Manning didn’t begin with that controversy, though. Haslam has been tied before to speculation involving Manning and former Alabama coach Nick Saban. Last year, Haslam pushed back on some of that chatter, saying he did not know Manning and believed the quarterback would stay in college.
Manning’s on-field profile has only grown since then. Texas erased a 23-3 deficit and knocked off No. 1 Ohio State 24-23, with Manning leading the comeback.
The Saban angle surfaced again this week, too. ESPN Cleveland’s Tony Rizzo said he had heard Haslam was still chasing Saban for some kind of role with the organization. Rizzo said Saban would not necessarily coach, but could be in another position, possibly alongside Manning.
“I have to say this because I’ve heard a lot of rumors, but I heard Jimmy is not done going after Nick Saban. Now Nick wouldn’t coach but he would have some kind of role.
And to combine him with Arch Manning. I think that stuff’s all still in play,” Rizzo said.
Meanwhile, Cleveland’s season opened in rough fashion. The Browns lost 34-10 to the Jacksonville Jaguars, with Watson starting at quarterback and then getting accused of point-shaving.
There’s also a bigger-picture wrinkle: Cleveland is building a new enclosed stadium in Brook Park that is scheduled to open in 2029. That timeline makes any talk about Manning feel even more distant, even as the speculation keeps circling.
Nothing here amounts to a confirmed plan to draft Manning. But with an NFL personnel executive reportedly linking Haslam to him, Rizzo bringing up Saban again, and Manning making headlines at Texas, the Browns are once more part of the Arch Manning conversation. And the 2026 season has only just begun.
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Texas Just Added Another Loaded Hall Of Honor Class
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The latest class gives Texas another chance to celebrate the people who helped build that tradition across multiple eras and sports. The honorees will also get a public nod at Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium when the Longhorns face UTSA, adding a football-stage moment to a ceremony that already tied together plenty of different corners of the programs past. [Read more 🡒]