It’s not necessarily new, the notion that Cleveland Browns owner Jimmy Haslam would like to see Arch Manning quarterbacking his franchise when the team opens a new stadium in Brook park in 2029. In fact, it might have already happened if Manning, the nephew of NFL star quarterbacks Eli and Peyton Manning, had lived up to his phenom billing when he first arrived at Texas. But Manning was not stellar in his first season as a starter in 2025, and is back in Austin this season.
He has not been lights-out in his first two starts of this year, which has created some angst among NFL types who were hoping he would be leader of a boisterous collegiate quarterback class in next year’s draft. And most prominent among those NFL types is Haslam, the longtime University of Tennessee booster with an affinity for the Vols’ all-time best quarterback, Peyton Manning.
Jimmy Haslam ‘Wants Arch Manning Playing in That New Stadium’
But longtime league reporter Jason La Canfora notes in a column at Casino.org this week that the Browns owner is not willing to just let the year play out as it may and hope to get Manning. He suggests that Haslam pushed coach Todd Monken into starting Deshaun Watson and will push him to take Watson out soon and start second-year man Shedeur Sanders.
Those quarterback shenanigans, though, are not the real consideration for the Browns. The end goal here, it seems, is to let the Browns’ four=man quarterback room battle it out here in 2026 so that Cleveland can wind up with Manning in 2027.
La Canfora reported that a veteran executive told him: “Haslam wants (Texas QB) Arch Manning, that’s what this is really all about,” said one longtime NFL personnel exec who knows the Browns well.
“I’m not sure he’s coming out (entering the draft). I know Jimmy, and I know how Jimmy thinks. He’s a huge booster for (University of) Tennessee. He has always had a hard-on for Peyton (Manning, uncle of the QB prospect). He wants Arch Manning playing in that new stadium.”
Browns Insist Todd Monken Made QB Decision
Now, it is fair to question reports from Casino.org, but La Canfora was an NFL insider for the Washington Post for many years, so he is not without credibility. Still, it is worth mentioning that coach Todd Monken has insisted that Haslam and the front office led by Andrew Berry were not involved in the decision start Watson and won’t be involved in any decision to remove him from the QB1 job.
Berry said the same thing, via text, to Clevelnd.com columnist Terry Pluto.
Berry told Terry Pluto of Cleveland.com: “Lineup decisions have always been under the head coach’s control,” texted Berry. “That is not different for Todd. We always discuss a range of things pertaining to the players on our roster or players we might potentially acquire.
“Part of the head coach/GM relationship is to serve as a sounding board or counsel to one another. In terms of which players are on the field and how they are deployed, we have great faith in Todd to have the final call on those sorts of things as he brings our vision to life.”
Browns Sinking Because Owner ‘Wants Arch Manning’: NFL Exec