The Manning family has burned the Jets again after latest NFL Draft news

Not again...
Arch Manning
Arch Manning | Tim Warner/GettyImages

Many New York Jets fans out there won't be too concerned about the results of the 2025 season or the performance of quarterback Justin Fields, as they will likely be in a position to draft a new franchise quarterback high in the 2026 NFL Draft if Fields is unable to take a step forward and become a winner.

One of the many consolation prizes many Jets fans have been eyeing in the event that 2025 is a bad season is Texas quarterback Arch Manning, who appears to have everything he needs to become the next great quarterback in a family looking to make it three generations worth of high-end play.

A few decades after Peyton Manning famously denied the Jets a chance to draft him, his nephew may have done the same thing.

Archie Manning, a Saints great and Arch's grandfather, said that Manning is not going to declare for the 2026 NFL Draft and will be at Texas for two more seasons. If the Jets bottom out this season, they won't even be able to bring in someone with a name that guarantees pro success.

Jets won't be able to draft Arch Manning in 2026

Manning is regarded as highly as he is based on his last name, as he has spent his college career as a seldom-used backup to Quinn Ewers, who has only started due to injury. Manning has all the talent in the world, but he can afford to get one more season of college tape under his belt.

The Manning family has done this before with the Jets. Peyton could have easily declared for the NFL Draft in 1997. Instead, he went back to Tennessee for one more season. The Jets traded out of the top pick and ended up with James Farrior (who never fulfilled his potential until joining the Steelers) instead.

The Jets won't be short on possible Fields replacements if they move on. LSU's Garrett Nussmeier, Penn State's Drew Allar, and South Carolina's LaNorris Sellers are projected to be picked high in the first round, while Clemson's Cade Klubnik and Indiana's Fernando Mendoza might be able to make it into the first 32 picks as well.

Unless the Jets are equally bad in 2026, which might be fatal to Aaron Glenn's status as the main man in New York, it looks like there is no chance of another Manning rolling into New York and revitalizing a languid franchise.

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