I believe that a John Elway/Eli Manning scenario will happen again in the future. NIL has changed the game a bit, with regards to financial security for the top college players, before they even play a snap for the NFL. I think the team that should worry about a possible Elway/Eli happening is Carolina. The Panthers are the new Redskins, in that they have unquestionably the worst owner in the NFL (and maybe all of sports), and they have the least talented team. FA’s aren’t willing to go to Carolina, because it’s an unstable franchise, where the owner likes to meddle, and he fires coaches like he goes through suits.
Carolina is in uncharted waters at the moment. They’re different than traditional bad teams like the Bengals and the Jaguars, in that coaches will avoid going there, or negotiate to sign there beyond 5 years, just for the financial security, and players will avoid signing there. Because of NIL, I can definitely see a scenario in which Carolina has the 1st pick in the draft, but a player like Quinn Ewers (or Sheduer Sanders) declines to go there.