Arch Manning touches $2.4 million NIL mark, finds himself among 5 highest valued athletes in the country

Texas Longhorns quarterback Arch Manning has become one of the most renowned student-athletes without getting much game time due to his famous family name and the hype that he joined college football with as a five-star rated recruit.

Most recently, despite getting linked to entering the transfer portal severally due to his No. 2 status in the program, Manning has stayed put to fight it out with the Longhorns' No. 1 quarterback, Quinn Ewers.

Due to all of the above factors, Arch Manning is one of the most marketable players in college sports with an On3 NIL valuation of $2.4 million which is good for No. 4 in the NIL rankings.

He is only behind Colorado Buffaloes stars Shedeur Sanders, Travis Hunter and former LSU Tigers gymnast Olivia Dunne.

Last year, the quarterback signed his first NIL deal in college football with Panini America which established him as a major player in the NIL space.

Arch Manning has had a unique relationship with NIL famously declining to make money from it until he was the starting QB for the Longhorns. He also opted out of the much-anticipated EA Sports College Football game for the same reason.

Arch Manning staying at Texas

When Texas Longhorns quarterback Quinn Ewers announced his return for another year, many college football fans thought that it would spell the end of Arch Manning at Texas.

During an interview with On3, former Texas quarterback Colt McCoy revealed that Manning was staying in Texas even if he is not QB1 and outlined the reasons why.

“Arch is saying, 'I’m very comfortable here, where I’m at,'” McCoy said. “Yeah, we all want to play. But I’m learning, I’m growing so that when the ball’s in my hands when I get out there, I trust the system. I trust all this growth that I’ve made my first two years, and I’m going to go out there and play.”

Arch Manning had an impressive spring game for Texas going 19-for-26 for 355 yards resulting in three touchdowns and one interception which renewed calls for him to be established as the No. 1 among fans.

During a recent interview with Josh Pate, Texas coach Steve Sarkisian dismissed the issues surrounding the quarterback leaving the program.

"I get a chuckle out of this. Everyone's praising Arch for staying at Texas. He's going into year two," Sarkisian said. "What do you mean? But that's the mentality. Good for Arch and he's sticking it out with Texas in year two and I'm like, that's part of the process. We're developing him to play and be a great football player and a great leader and he's going to be."

Arch Manning has shown flashes of brilliance during the few minutes of game time that he has gotten and Texas fans will be rubbing their hands in anticipation of actualizing his immense potential in the future.