The Cleveland Browns haven’t even kicked off their season against the Cincinnati Bengals, and it already seems the team is looking ahead to the 2026 NFL Draft. This isn’t surprising, as the team holds multiple draft picks, and all rumors suggest they’ll be targeting a new franchise quarterback, despite adding two players at this position in this year’s draft.

An unexpected turn for Shedeur Sanders

There were many doubts about whether the Cleveland front office was genuinely giving Dillon Gabriel and Shedeur Sanders a chance by including them in the competition, which now only involves Joe Flacco after Kenny Pickett‘s departure. But these suspicions are growing, serving as a warning to the entire department, especially after team owner Jimmy Haslam and general manager Andrew Berry were spotted on the sidelines of the season opener between the Texas Longhorns and Ohio State.

The organization claimed it was merely a team-bonding trip for head coach Kevin Stefanski and the players, but this only fueled speculation that they have their eyes on Arch Manning, who was considered one of the top college football prospects before this game.

Everything went wrong for Arch Manning

Unfortunately for Arch Manning, this wasn’t his best game to showcase his skills. One could say the Browns gathered plenty of material, but it was negative, as they watched him throw for only 170 yards, completing 17 of 30 passes with one touchdown and one interception. Texas ultimately fell to Ohio State 7-14.

Perhaps this performance encouraged Haslam to consider giving his current players (Dillon Gabriel and Shedeur Sanders) a chance, though that’s likely not the case.

Cleveland might start looking at other top prospects like Garrett Nussmeier (LSU), who threw for 232 yards and a touchdown in a surprising victory over Clemson, or Drew Allar (Penn State), who completed 22 of 26 passes for 217 yards and a touchdown in a dominant win over Nevada.

But, without a doubt, the standout performance came from LaNorris Sellers (South Carolina), who completed 22 of 26 passes for 209 yards and a touchdown, while also rushing for 25 yards and another score in a victory over Virginia Tech.

There’s still plenty of season left for Arch Manning to prove himself, but the reality is that the Cleveland Browns can look to other horizons to find their next star.