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Last week, Colin Cowherd revealed on The Herd that his sources were telling him the Cleveland Browns were going to make a splash next year, in the form of Arch Manning and Nick Saban.

However, Browns owner Jimmy Haslam spoke to the media on Tuesday, and he wasn’t exactly fanning the flames of that fire.

In fact, Haslam doesn’t even believe the young Manning will be on an NFL roster next season.

“You’re in the business and you get paid by how many hits you get,” Haslam said. “I think if you know the Manning family, I would bet — and I don’t know Arch at all — I bet he stays in college two [more] years. 

“I don’t even think that’s worth discussing.”

Manning is eligible to enter the 2026 draft if he chooses to do so after he finishes his season at Texas (his first as the starter).

The nephew of Peyton and Eli Manning saw game action last year, behind Quinn Ewers either due to injury or blowouts, where he threw for 939 yards with nine touchdowns and two interceptions.

In an un-Manning-like fashion, he also rushed for 108 yards with four touchdowns on the ground.

If the owner of the Browns, worth a reported $8.5 billion, believes Manning will stay another year, it might be a good idea to believe him, considering the close relationship Haslam shares with the Manning family.

And if Haslam is correct, that spells great news for Shedeur Sanders. Someone that Haslam also discussed on Tuesday afternoon.

“We have good process,” Haslam said, via Daniel Oyefusi of ESPN.com.

“We had a conversation early that morning and then we had a conversation later that day. I think we had the right people involved in the conversation.

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“And the end of the day, that’s [G.M.] Andrew Berry’s call. Andrew made the call to pick Shedeur.”

Does that sound like Haslam is a fan of Sanders? Hard to tell, but he clearly isn’t taking any responsibility in bringing him into the organization.

Now, could he have told Berry anytime during the draft that he didn’t want his general manager to draft the son of Deion Sanders? And would Berry have listened? Absolutely, without question.

If what Haslam said comes to be true, then Cowherd could not have been anymore wrong.

Last week on The Herd, he revealed that both Saban and Manning could find themselves on the shores of Lake Erie.

“This is the worst-kept secret in the South,” Cowherd said. “Haslam, Jimmy, owner of the Browns, huge SEC-Tennessee booster, leans heavily on the Manning family.

Poorly kept secret’ – Browns have already given up on Shedeur Sanders with college stars in sights

“Very close to the Manning family. Yes, that’s not make believe. Arch Manning is part of the Manning family, and this is where Nick Saban comes in.

“Saban is incredibly close to not only Jimmy Haslam, but Saban is close to the Manning family as well. Saban, if he could land, I’m told, a top quarterback like Harbaugh going to the Chargers for Herbert, he would take a phone call for the NFL.

“There are two teams guaranteed to be awful this year in the NFL: Cleveland and the Saints. Nick Saban has coached in Cleveland with the Browns under the Belichick staff, and he’s coached at LSU.

“This is not a conspiracy theory. Haslam’s circle of trust, according to an article in the Athletic last year, is the Manning family, Jimmy Sexton and Bill Parcells. Sexton is Nick Saban’s agent.

“The Mannings are royalty in New Orleans, the children’s hospital in New Orleans is called the Mannings Children’s Hospital, and the Mannings are royalty to Jimmy Haslam.

“Jimmy Haslam also loves headlines. That’s why he pushed to draft Johnny Manziel and Baker Mayfield. They were the most talked about quarterbacks. It’s why he signed a ridiculous guarantee contract for Deshaun Watson, it would get discussed.

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“This is not a conspiracy theory. The circle of trust for Haslam is the Manning family and Jimmy Sexton and Saban.

“This story is a poorly kept secret. The Mannings, Haslam, Jimmy Sexton, Nick Saban. Saban is not going to college, but he would take a call in the NFL.”

At this point next year, Sanders could be coming off a phenomenal rookie season, and Manning could be back in Austin looking to repeat as national champions. Who knows? Crazier things have happened.