During Fox Sports’ Super Bowl pregame show, Los Angeles Rams coach Sean McVay will make a couple of appearances, sources briefed on the plan told The Athletic.
It is not a big role, but it does have some significance because there is always jockeying for position to be the next $100 million NFL TV analyst. The 39-year-old McVay, who already could have been a nine-figure-contract commentator, is in position to potentially accept such an offer if he ever should choose to take a respite from coaching.
McVay, Travis Kelce and Steelers coach Mike Tomlin will have major broadcasting opportunities, if and when they want. Greg Olsen, the people’s choice, is ripe to reclaim a No. 1 spot, if he can find one, while CBS’ “NFL Today” panelist J.J. Watt, who called one of the Netflix games, is also a potential candidate to watch.
The sportscasting free-agency carousel all seems quiet — until it isn’t. Super Bowl week is when the future deals gain some roots, as the top executives from the major sports platforms converge on New Orleans.
Last year, Jason Kelce was taking meetings with all the networks. He had offers from nearly every major network, before going with the highest known bidder in ESPN on a three-year, $24 million contract, according to sources briefed on the deal.
The fearsome fivesome we named – McVay, Travis Kelce, Tomlin, Olsen and Watt – could eventually be joined by Pro Bowlers and future Hall of Famers. None of them will receive Tom Brady’s $375 million deal, but $100 million here or there could help any of these folks with the price of eggs.
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Brady is locked up for another nine years after the Super Bowl and said he may want to go beyond that. CBS’ Tony Romo has five years remaining on his 10-year, $180 million deal. Cris Collinsworth is signed up through NBC’s Super Bowl next season and the one in 2029-30.
While Troy Aikman’s $90 million contract only runs through ABC/ESPN’s 2026-27 Super Bowl, the network is over the moon with him and Joe Buck. Unless there is a hiccup over trying to reach Brady’s contract stratosphere, it would be a bit surprising for Aikman not to sign on for more years.
That leaves Amazon Prime Video and “Thursday Night Football.” The legendary Al Michaels, 80, is going year-to-year on play-by-play, while Kirk Herbstreit — more of a college guy than an NFL analyst — is up in two seasons. It is still early, but Prime Video could try a full reboot when Michaels finally hangs up his Hall of Fame headset.
Amazon has agreed with Ian Eagle to be its lead NBA play-by-player. CBS holds Eagle in the highest regard as the voice of the Final Four and its No. 2 NFL play-by-player. He would seem a natural choice when Michaels decides the time has come to turn off his mic.
Herbstreit has spoken about the exhaustion of doing TNF, “College GameDay” and ESPN’s college football game of the week. He tweets out his private flight schedule every week, which is a lot of miles, even accompanied by his dogs.
That leaves McVay, Travis Kelce, Tomlin, Olsen and Watt jockeying for position. CBS studio analyst Matt Ryan is also someone to consider long-term if he ever is returned to games.
McVay already walked away from a potential $20 million per year offer from Amazon, where he could have been Michaels’ partner on Prime Video’s Thursday Night package three years ago.
Travis Kelce is maybe the greatest tight end ever and was already on every network’s future sportscasting lists, even without the added value of being Taylor Swift’s boyfriend.
Tomlin has shown no inkling about exiting the sidelines, but he is the one who executives and NFL play-by-players talk about in terms of potential because of his way of succinctly making thoughtful points during press conferences and other media availabilities.
Olsen, Fox’s No. 2 analyst, is, along with Aikman, the best in the game right now.
Watt, a sure-fire Hall of Famer, may have caught the itch after calling the Netflix games with Eagle and Nate Burleson.
They all see the money — as the top game analysts are making from $13 million to $37.5 to work half the year. The studio pays less, but it is easy, keeps you very viable for commercials (see Terry Bradshaw and Howie Long after all these years) and pays a salary that can be in the $10 million range.
On Sunday, McVay making a cameo is just a little thing. But if he wants to stop coaching for a bit or forever, there will come a time that 81-year-old Jimmy Johnson, the longtime Hall of Fame coach on the Fox NFL Sunday set, retires.
McVay may be having a small audition on Super Bowl Sunday. It might be looked back one day as something more.
(Illustration: Demetrius Robinson / The Athletic; Courtney Culbreath / Getty Images, Brooke Sutton / Getty Images, Sarah Stier / Getty Images)
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