In recent statements, Cleveland Browns co-owner Jimmy Haslam dismissed speculation about the team’s potential interest in Texas quarterback Arch Manning in the 2026 NFL draft.
Haslam, a graduate of the University of Tennessee, maintains a strong relationship with the Manning family, including Peyton, Arch’s uncle. The Browns have two first-round picks in next year’s draft, when Arch will be eligible.
Arch Manning, who is about to begin his first full-time starting season, avoided answering questions about his potential to turn professional during SEC media days earlier this month. Furthermore, Haslam denied having influenced the selection of Shedeur Sanders as the Browns’ quarterback in the fifth round of the 2025 NFL draft, stating that the decision was made by general manager Andrew Berry, despite speculation about his involvement in the choice. The cameras inside the Browns’ draft room captured Haslam sitting behind Berry and head coach Kevin Stefanski when Sanders’ selection was announced. Cleveland ended Sanders’ surprising fall on Day 3 of the draft by trading up to select Sanders with the No. 144 pick. Sanders was the second quarterback the Browns selected in the draft, after Dillon Gabriel, who was selected with the No. 94 pick. “We have a good process,” Haslam affirmed. “If they had told me… on Friday night, on the way home, that they were going to choose Shedeur, I would have said: ‘That’s not going to happen.’ But we had a conversation early that morning and another later that day. I think we had the right people involved in the conversation. At the end of the day, that’s Andrew Berry’s decision. Andrew made the decision to choose Shedeur.”I think if you know the Manning family, I would bet that, and I don’t know Arch at all, I would bet that he stays in college for two years. So, really, I don’t even think it’s worth discussing.
Jimmy Haslam
