The Arizona Cardinals Are Already Playing the Long Game for Arch Manning, and the 2027 Draft Class Is About to Get Wild
Here's the thing about the 2027 NFL draft: it hasn't even happened yet, but teams are already positioning themselves like it's the Super Bowl. And according to reporting, the Arizona Cardinals might be one step ahead of everyone else.
Arch Manning just announced he's coming back for one more season at Texas, which means the sweepstakes officially started. The guy threw for 3,163 yards and 26 touchdowns with just seven interceptions last year. He's the real deal. And now, a year before the draft, multiple franchises are already eyeing him hard.
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The Cardinals, Miami Dolphins, and New York Jets are the three main contenders positioned to potentially land Manning in 2027. But here's where it gets interesting: Arizona might actually have the clearest path.
Why? According to Mike Florio, the Cardinals don't have a locked-in quarterback plan for 2026. That could actually be intentional. The theory is that Arizona accepts this season might be a wash and simply lets things play out naturally. The payoff? They get first dibs on whoever emerges as the top quarterback after the 2026 college football season. That's playing chess while everyone else is playing checkers.
But Here's the Catch
One year is a lifetime in college football. Florio himself pointed out that "the player who emerges as the consensus number one for the next year could be a player no one is even thinking about currently." It happened before with other elite prospects. It happened with Joe Burrow. The conventional wisdom says Manning is the guy, but college football has a funny way of throwing curveballs.
Still, if you're a Cardinals fan, this long-term thinking might actually make sense. Accept some pain now, position yourself perfectly, and potentially land your franchise quarterback a year from now. That's the bet Arizona is making.
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