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Archie Manning is still one of the most beloved New Orleans Saints players of all time. Peyton, Eli and Cooper Manning starred in high school at Isidore Newman in New Orleans. The Mannings are football royalty, and New Orleans is their home.
Other than LeBron James being drafted by the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2003, there aren't many more natural, fun draft fits in history than University of Texas quarterback Arch Manning coming home to the Saints in 2026. It's not like the Saints are unaware of that possibility.
Watch Yahoo Sports' Draft Live show for the 2025 NFL Draft. (Amber Matsumoto/Yahoo Sports)
The Saints are one of the more interesting teams in the 2025 NFL Draft, but the real intrigue might be them setting themselves up for next year's draft. It's impossible for New Orleans to not dream a bit about landing Manning, the son of Cooper and nephew of Peyton and Eli. Most projections on the 2026 NFL Draft class have Manning as the No. 1 prospect. The Saints been stuck in boring mediocrity for a few years with no path out. Manning would change all of that.
And perhaps the Saints approach the draft with that in mind, on multiple levels.
The Saints have a mess at quarterback. Derek Carr reportedly wants out. After Cam Ward this is not a strong quarterback draft. For a while the Saints taking a quarterback was favored by BetMGM's odds, but that has cooled, especially when it comes to Shedeur Sanders. Maybe the Saints decide to pass off their decision at quarterback to a better, deeper class in 2026.
The Manning dream is fun, but there's no guarantee Manning is in the 2026 class. In the NIL era, quarterbacks don't have the same pressure to jump to the NFL. The money will be there for Manning. Maybe he'll want another year at Texas. It's also possible a full season of starting would expose Manning a little and push him down draft boards. That has happened before.
But that would be OK for the Saints. Manning is a fun fit because of the hometown ties, but next year's draft class has many interesting options like Penn State's Drew Allar, LSU's Garrett Nussmeier, South Carolina's LaNorris Sellers and others. Other quarterbacks will emerge too, like Jayden Daniels did through his Heisman Trophy season. If the Saints bottom out in hopes of a quarterback in 2026, all their hopes wouldn't be pinned on Manning.
If there's a season to decide to be bad, in hopes of getting a franchise changer at quarterback in a year, this might be a good time to do it.
Tanking doesn't happen in the NFL, not in the way most people talk about it. You can't tell coaches or players to not do their best. But teams can make personnel decisions that aren't necessarily conducive to winning. Passing on quarterback in the draft and letting Spencer Rattler start all season would be that type of move. If the final outcome of a terrible season is getting a difference making quarterback, and especially a massively hyped one from New Orleans, Saints fans probably wouldn't be too upset.
The BetMGM odds of Sanders being drafted by the Saints went from +160 on Monday (New Orleans was the favorite to draft Sanders then) to +350 on Tuesday. That's a big shift. The favorite for the first position drafted by the Saints changed from quarterback to defensive line. It seems the buzz has changed to the Saints not picking a quarterback in the first round this year, and who knows if they plan to take a quarterback at all in the first few rounds. The Saints could use their first few picks on offensive talent and set it up well for whoever is their highly drafted quarterback next year.
The marketing dream would be for that quarterback to be Arch Manning, to be greeted by whatever offensive lineman (Kelvin Banks Jr.?) or skill position player (Tyler Warren? Tetairoa McMillan?) they draft ninth overall in this year's draft instead of a quarterback.
It's not guaranteed to work out that cleanly. The Saints might stink and still not get the first pick. Manning might stay in school, or prove he's not really the NFL prospect he is projected to be at the moment. But if the Saints pass on quarterback in this draft, without any good idea who they'd start all season, it's a sign they have bigger things in mind.
Continue reading...
Other than LeBron James being drafted by the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2003, there aren't many more natural, fun draft fits in history than University of Texas quarterback Arch Manning coming home to the Saints in 2026. It's not like the Saints are unaware of that possibility.
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Watch Yahoo Sports' Draft Live show for the 2025 NFL Draft. (Amber Matsumoto/Yahoo Sports)
The Saints are one of the more interesting teams in the 2025 NFL Draft, but the real intrigue might be them setting themselves up for next year's draft. It's impossible for New Orleans to not dream a bit about landing Manning, the son of Cooper and nephew of Peyton and Eli. Most projections on the 2026 NFL Draft class have Manning as the No. 1 prospect. The Saints been stuck in boring mediocrity for a few years with no path out. Manning would change all of that.
And perhaps the Saints approach the draft with that in mind, on multiple levels.
Will Saints look ahead to QB in 2026?
The Saints have a mess at quarterback. Derek Carr reportedly wants out. After Cam Ward this is not a strong quarterback draft. For a while the Saints taking a quarterback was favored by BetMGM's odds, but that has cooled, especially when it comes to Shedeur Sanders. Maybe the Saints decide to pass off their decision at quarterback to a better, deeper class in 2026.
The Manning dream is fun, but there's no guarantee Manning is in the 2026 class. In the NIL era, quarterbacks don't have the same pressure to jump to the NFL. The money will be there for Manning. Maybe he'll want another year at Texas. It's also possible a full season of starting would expose Manning a little and push him down draft boards. That has happened before.
But that would be OK for the Saints. Manning is a fun fit because of the hometown ties, but next year's draft class has many interesting options like Penn State's Drew Allar, LSU's Garrett Nussmeier, South Carolina's LaNorris Sellers and others. Other quarterbacks will emerge too, like Jayden Daniels did through his Heisman Trophy season. If the Saints bottom out in hopes of a quarterback in 2026, all their hopes wouldn't be pinned on Manning.
If there's a season to decide to be bad, in hopes of getting a franchise changer at quarterback in a year, this might be a good time to do it.
Saints' outlook for 2025 NFL Draft
Tanking doesn't happen in the NFL, not in the way most people talk about it. You can't tell coaches or players to not do their best. But teams can make personnel decisions that aren't necessarily conducive to winning. Passing on quarterback in the draft and letting Spencer Rattler start all season would be that type of move. If the final outcome of a terrible season is getting a difference making quarterback, and especially a massively hyped one from New Orleans, Saints fans probably wouldn't be too upset.
The BetMGM odds of Sanders being drafted by the Saints went from +160 on Monday (New Orleans was the favorite to draft Sanders then) to +350 on Tuesday. That's a big shift. The favorite for the first position drafted by the Saints changed from quarterback to defensive line. It seems the buzz has changed to the Saints not picking a quarterback in the first round this year, and who knows if they plan to take a quarterback at all in the first few rounds. The Saints could use their first few picks on offensive talent and set it up well for whoever is their highly drafted quarterback next year.
The marketing dream would be for that quarterback to be Arch Manning, to be greeted by whatever offensive lineman (Kelvin Banks Jr.?) or skill position player (Tyler Warren? Tetairoa McMillan?) they draft ninth overall in this year's draft instead of a quarterback.
It's not guaranteed to work out that cleanly. The Saints might stink and still not get the first pick. Manning might stay in school, or prove he's not really the NFL prospect he is projected to be at the moment. But if the Saints pass on quarterback in this draft, without any good idea who they'd start all season, it's a sign they have bigger things in mind.
Continue reading...
