Sports Illustrated forecasts a dismal 2025 for New Orleans and a stinging draft twist: the Manning heir may opt out of the NFL to avoid the weight of reviving his family’s former team.
The 2025 season looks brutally tough for the New Orleans Saints. With a rookie head coach in Kellen Moore and significant questions at quarterback, many analysts predict a campaign that lands them the coveted first overall pick in the 2026 NFL Draft.
Sports Illustrated’s Conor Orr added fuel to this fire in his list of 100 bold 2025 predictions. His third prediction? The Saints will secure that top draft slot. But it’s his fourth prediction that delivers a potential gut-punch to the Who Dat Nation: even with the No. 1 pick, the Saints won’t draft Arch Manning.
The twist? Orr suggests it wouldn’t be the Saints’ choice. He predicts Texas star quarterback Arch Manning – grandson of Saints legend Archie Manning – will decline to enter the 2026 NFL Draft, staying in college for another year.
Orr theorizes the Manning family might actively avoid the immense pressure of Arch joining his grandfather’s often-struggling franchise in his home state.
“Every chess move made by this football family has been to set up their kids with normal, successful lives,” Orr writes, “and placing the burden of his grandfather’s franchise on Arch’s shoulders would be deleterious to his progress at the next level.”
This scenario presents a cruel irony for Saints fans. Landing the top pick offers hope for a franchise quarterback, especially one with deep local ties. Yet, the very prospect meant to inspire hope – drafting Archie Manning’s grandson – could vanish before the draft even begins.
The prediction hinges on the Mannings’ history: they traditionally use their full college eligibility, valuing education and development. The modern NIL landscape, offering significant financial compensation in college, makes staying another year far more feasible than in the past. Furthermore, avoiding the specific burden of resurrecting the Saints – a franchise where Archie endured tough years – could be a calculated family decision.
While the allure of seeing another Manning in black and gold is strong, Orr’s forecast serves as a stark warning: if the Saints bottom out and earn the No. 1 pick in 2026, don’t count on Arch Manning being the automatic savior. The Manning legacy might just bypass the Superdome once more.
