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NFL Exec Suggests AFC Team Could Pass on Shedeur Sanders With Eye on Arch Manning

Originally posted on Athlon Sports | By Kevin Borba | Last updated Apr 2, 2025 2:35 PM ET

The NFL draft is a couple of weeks away, and it appears there is anything but a consensus on where teams stand with this group of quarterbacks.

Although a handful of teams need a franchise quarterback, there seem to only be two or maybe three quarterbacks who have a realistic shot at going in the first round. However, the confidence level around those three, which consist of Cam Ward (Miami), Shedeur Sanders (Colorado) and Jaxson Dart (Ole Miss) isn't necessarily high.

In fact, one anonymous NFL executive suggested to The Athletic's Mike Sando that the Cleveland Browns, who have the No. 2 pick, pass on a quarterback this year. Instead, the executive suggested that rather than taking a risk on Sanders, the Browns could tank this next season and hope they are in a position to draft Texas' Arch Manning.

“If I’m Cleveland, and I don’t love Shedeur (Sanders) at pick No. 2, I have a two-time Coach of the Year, a GM that got a second contract, so could that regime possibly survive a worst-team-in-the-league season to get Arch Manning next year?” the exec asked Sando.

While Sanders has done way more at the college level, leading Colorado to a 9-4 record this past season and was named Big 12 Offensive Player of the Year, Manning has all of the traits that NFL teams salivate over. He has a rocket of an arm, and is also a dynamic athlete whose top speed was on the level of Tyreek Hill.

With Quinn Ewers, who is also a part of this suspect quarterback class, no longer in Austin, the general expectation is for Manning to burst onto the scene and light it up for Texas. The nephew of Peyton and Eli Manning will look to lead Texas to a title for the first time since 2005, after the program reached the semifinal round in each of the last two years.

As for Sanders, he remains one of the draft's biggest mysteries, with some analysts viewing him as a top-five pick while others don't have him as a first-rounder.

This article first appeared on Athlon Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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