Arch Manning is once again the main character of everything pertaining to the 2027 NFL Draft class. While his attention is on the 2026 season with Texas, in the back of his mind, the draft is taking up some real estate. With the NFL's first week of preseason games officially behind us, the Cleveland Browns and Arizona Cardinals are among the teams in the mix to land him in April. Here's how the first official week of the preseason gives him insight into one of his future landing spots.
Cleveland Browns
The only thing getting the Cleveland Browns through the 2026 season is knowing that they will have a shot at one of the top quarterbacks in this upcoming draft class, including Arch Manning. Deshaun Watson has missed more games than he’s played in since he was traded to Cleveland and Shedeur Sanders continues to struggle. The biggest thing Manning learned about the Browns is that they desperately need him.Â
Cleveland went and put an arsenal of weapons in place for whomever takes snaps in the 2027 season. Denzel Boston and KC Concepcion have been garnering a lot of attention throughout training camp and validated that hype in the preseason opener against Chicago on Saturday. Manning has to feel a lot better about landing in Cleveland than not, simply because their offense looks much better than it has been.Â
The quarterback position is going to hold them back next year, but if their young stars, including 2025 draft picks Quinshon Judkins and Harold Fannin Jr., continue to trend up, the Browns look like a pretty attractive landing spot for Manning.Â
Arizona Cardinals
While Arizona doesn’t sound like a bad landing spot if you’re Manning, the one thing that should change his perception is the injury problems. Jeremiyah Love got hurt against the Las Vegas Raiders, but doesn’t seem like a serious injury and Chase Bisontis tore his MCL, which puts his entire 2026 season in jeopardy. This feels like a bad omen, especially when you look at Carson Beck dealing with a rib injury, which he suffered during the Hall of Fame game. The injuries aren’t escaping the Cardinals and Manning landing there just doesn’t feel conducive to turning him into a franchise quarterback.Â
The Cardinals have whiffed on just about every quarterback they’ve drafted to be the franchise player. Why should Manning feel like the Cardinals are magically going to figure it out with him at the helm? It was a slow start for Marvin Harrison Jr., but a touchdown on Thursday highlighted what could be a turnaround for year three for him. Sure that’s an attractive piece to the Cardinals, but again, they aren’t the best at developing their young quarterbacks.Â
Factor in the injuries and it just feels like Manning will always be dealing with some sort of problem in Arizona if he lands there. Love looks like a great piece and Harrison can continue to grow with a quarterback like Manning, but if Manning doesn’t have an offensive line in front of him to protect him, this offense will never reach its full potential, regardless of if Manning lands there or not.
New York Jets
The one thing Manning learned from the New York Jets’ first preseason game is no matter how good their weapons are, it’s still the New York Jets. Bailey Zappe got hurt and that means rookie Cade Klubnik is in line to be Geno Smith’s backup. If the Cardinals are bad at developing young quarterbacks, the Jets are worse. Omar Cooper Jr. and Garrett Wilson are an intriguing duo to have on offense, plus Kenyon Sadiq. But there’s nothing the Jets did on Friday that should change Manning’s perception about them.Â
Though New York seems to have put together a decent enough offensive line for their next quarterback, that doesn’t mean they’ll translate to success. They still need to figure out the defense too, which is why when thinking about the Jets, they don’t seem like that impressive of a team to join.Â
Atlanta Falcons
Atlanta has to be the most intriguing team of the bunch from the standpoint that they’re probably a quarterback away from contending in the NFC South let alone being a consistent playoff team. Kevin Stefanski has worked with the whole gamut of quarterbacks so if he can put up with Tua Tagovailoa and Michael Penix Jr. for a season, Arch Manning will feel like a breath of fresh air. With Drake London, Kyle Pitts Sr. and Bijan Robinson, there’s no way Manning struggles with this offense if he gets drafted to Atlanta.Â
They are young on defense, but from an offensive fit, there’s not a better team on this list. The offense didn’t look great, but for what it’s worth, the first team offense played roughly two drives and the problems stemmed from Tagovailoa rather than an inability within the offense.Â
Miami Dolphins
The Dolphins just might be a long shot for Manning. Not because they’re going to play themselves out of a good draft position but because Malik Willis just might be the quarterback the Dolphins have been waiting for. In Miami, Manning would be the backup and ultimately the future starter after Willis’ contract is done. That means for two seasons, he would be backup, which isn’t a bad option for Miami considering their backup options looked horrible against the Washington Commanders.Â
Miami probably isn’t drafting Manning inside the top three if Willis plays well this upcoming season. That said, Manning would be perfect insurance for Willis if things go awry. At worst, you spend high for your quarterback of the future and at best, you land a player you can build around if Willis flops. This is something Miami will have to think hard about though because their roster needs a lot of help and spending a pick on Manning is risky considering he’s probably not going to play right away.
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