Steve Sarkisian applauds Arch Manning for 'not taking a dime' from Texas Longhorns
The Texas Longhorns will be spending around $40 million on their roster in 2025, but head coach Steve Sarkisian was quick to point out that Arch Manning wasn't hogging all of the money for himself. In fact, he gave a lot of credit to the family for doing the legwork and still being a financial […]
The Texas Longhorns will be spending around $40 million on their roster in 2025, but head coach Steve Sarkisian was quick to point out that Arch Manning wasn't hogging all of the money for himself. In fact, he gave a lot of credit to the family for doing the legwork and still being a financial star.
In a statement from Sarkisian given to Kirk Bohls of the Houston Chronicle, Manning is “by far the highest-paid Texas player,” as expected, but doesn’t take a dime from the school. He and his family acquired all his deals on their own “with no help from the school.”
On3 values Manning's NIL deals to be worth $6.6 million per year.
Manning will be eligible for the 2026 NFL Draft after this season, and there's a huge appetite to project him into the top pick already. The problem with that is he seems relatively unlikely to make the leap after one year as a starter.
Manning has talked about wanting to be a multi-year starter before and wants to see himself make it through all four years at Texas. That task got more realistic when Quinn Ewers returned to the program last offseason.
The former five-star still played, but only attempted 90 passes. He completed 67.8% for 939 yards, nine touchdowns, and two interceptions. Manning became the de facto short-game quarterback due to his athleticism, totaling 108 yards and four scores.
Travis May of A to Z projected the 2026 NFL Draft in February and projected Manning to land eighth overall to the Saints. Here was his analysis.
Arch Manning at 8? He should automatically go first overall, right? Wrong. The truth is that the Manning crew has made it quite clear that Arch quite likely will not be entering the 2026 NFL Draft. There's no reason to rush and force his development. However, even if he puts up a good season he'll still only have one full year starting, so despite his last name Arch Manning would be a bit more of a projection than most first round quarterback picks.
But does he have the talent to be an early first round quarterback? Absolutely. Arch Manning was a five star recruit for reason, with far superior athleticism when compared to both of his uncles, Eli and Peyton (as you can see in the post below). He flashed some of that ability last fall already. If he does somehow declare in 2026 after a strong 2025 campaign the Saints would be insane not to select the grandson of Archie Manning, who spent 10+ seasons playing QB in New Orleans.
There's no question Manning has the buzz of a top overall pick, but hiccups are almost surely coming. Texas appears to be the favorite to win the 2025 College Football Playoff, but he'll be more scrutinized than most collegiate players.
Expectations are high, and it might be best for Manning to get two years of experience dealing with the pressure in Austin before making the jump.
