Quinn Ewers is heading to the NFL, and you know what that means—it’s officially Arch Manning time in Texas. Yep, the kid with arguably the most famous last name in football is about to take over the Longhorns’ offense. No more backup duties, no more waiting in the wings. And why not? The guy’s been patiently waiting for his moment, and now’s the time to take the reins.
With everyone watching his next move, it’s no surprise that some big NFL names are keeping tabs on Arch Manning—the newest branch of the legendary Manning QB tree. While Ewers is locking in for Texas Pro Day, Arch kicked off spring drills on Tuesday at Denius Fields. And guess who showed up? None other than the Rams GM, Les Snead.
On Tuesday, Snead had a chat with Manning at the Texas Pro Day. And that’s where things get interesting. See, it’s too early to say, but after re-signing Matthew Stafford, they’ve resolved their quarterback issues for this year, no doubt. But with Stafford just turned 37, the Rams are left without a succession plan. And if history has taught us anything, then Les Snead is well-known for pulling out some insane moves.
Rams’ GM Les Snead is chatting with Arch Manning at Texas’ Pro Day
: @AlexDunlapNFL pic.twitter.com/Kqo9qN4FCi
— The 33rd Team (@The33rdTeamFB) March 25, 2025
Let’s be real—Snead visiting the Texas Pro Day and chatting with Manning is not that big a deal. But we just can’t avoid the elephant in the room. According to The Athletic’s Jeff Howe, the Rams, along with all the other 31 teams, visited the Miami Hurricanes’ Pro Day on Monday for their QB, Cam Ward, who’s expected to be a top 3 pick in April.
Sure, there’s no way the Rams are going to move up to draft QB, but first, visiting Miami’s Pro day, and now Texas? The way things are shaping up, Snead is probably looking to secure the Rams’ future. After all, Stafford is probably going to play for one or two seasons with the team.
They’ve the 26th overall pick in the 2025 NFL draft, and it would be really shocking if they’d use it to snag a QB. However, Manning is going to be eligible for the NFL draft next year. Yeah, it’s too early to say, but given Snead’s aggressive reputation in the NFL draft, you never know what could be brewing.
Remember the 2016 NFL draft? Yeah, when Snead traded a bunch of draft picks to the Titans to move up from the 15th pick to the top spot. The Rams gave up two second-rounders, a third-rounder for the 2016 draft, and even first and third-round picks in the 2017 draft. So yeah, if we’re really talking about Les Snead looking to secure the Rams’ future after Matthew Stafford, you already know he’s got a few tricks up his sleeve. Whether it’s a rookie QB this year or Arch Manning in the future.
Meanwhile, the Rams are getting the retirement news from their roster—and we aren’t talking about Stafford this time.
Les Snead could lose his WR better than he would’ve expected
“Cheers to what’s next. Extending a big thank you to the Rams and all of the fans for your support over these last 10 years. Much love.” That’s Aaron Donald, arguably the best DT of the NFL, and a future Hall of Famer hanging up his cleats after playing 10 seasons in the NFL. And looks like another Rams’ star player is ready to follow Donald’s footsteps—except that he’s not a DT, but the Rams’ third-year wideout, Puka Nacua.
Go on, read that again. The Rams drafted Nacua with the 177th overall pick a couple of years ago. After playing in two seasons with the team, the 23-year-old WR recently admitted that he wants to retire at 30. “I know I want to retire at the age of 30,” Nacua said. “I’m 23 right now, I’m going into Year 3 — it wouldn’t even be 10 years. It’d be maybe seven or eight. I think of Aaron Donald, to go out at the top, I think it would be super cool.” That’s surely one hell of a retirement plan.
Across his two years in LA, the wideout has been a key contributor to the Rams’ O-line. That includes a record-breaking rookie season (amassing 1,486 yards and 6 touchdowns), and a solid second season where he barely missed another 1000+ season (990 to be exact and 3 TDs). But why is he planning to retire at 30? Well, the WR has some pretty good reasons.
NFL, American Football Herren, USA Miami Dolphins at Los Angeles Rams Nov 11, 2024 Inglewood, California, USA Los Angeles Rams wide receiver Puka Nacua 17 carries the ball against the Miami Dolphins at SoFi Stadium. Inglewood SoFi Stadium California USA, EDITORIAL USE ONLY PUBLICATIONxINxGERxSUIxAUTxONLY Copyright: xKirbyxLeex 20241111_tbs_al2_339
Nacua has 5 siblings who admitted that the WR wants to have a big family, saying, “I want to be able to be a part of their lives and be as active as I can with them.” On top of that, the guy’s concerned about the injuries as well. After all, it’s part of the game, right? “The injuries are something you can’t control [as] part of the game, so you never know,” Nacua said.
“Hopefully, the rest of the career can go healthy, but you have shoulder surgery, you have knee surgery, you have ankle. By the time my kids could be 18, I could be barely walking if you play the game and sustain all the injuries and stuff like that, but I want to retire early.” Honestly, you can’t blame him.
The guy started just in 11 games and missed out on 5 games due to a knee injury in the last season, and the season-ending game for the rest. And considering Nacua is looking to have a big family, no doubt the guy’s pretty much concerned about his injury issues.
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