Saints QB Brees will join NBC after he retires
In a flurry of news on the NFL media front on Friday, the NFL’s all-time passing leader committed to join NBC when he retires eventually, CBS dropped one of football’s longest-tenured commentators and then raided Fox for a new No. 2 game analyst, according to three industry sources.
Rounding up the moves that impacted Drew Brees, Dan Fouts and Charles Davis:
• Brees, who in 2018 became the NFL’s all-time leader in passing yardage, committed to join NBC when he retires, likely in a year or two. Brees recently signed a two-year, $50 million contract to remain with the Saints but could step away from the playing field after the 2020 season if he chooses.
As soon as he retires, Brees would become NBC’s game analyst on Notre Dame football, a role handled by Doug Flutie since 2014. He also will join NBC’s “Football Night in America” Sunday night studio show.
Down the line, Brees, 41, could join the Sunday night NFL booth, but NBC has no plans to replace Cris Collinsworth, 61, who is valued by the network. Brees also would be in line for an NFL game analyst role if NBC acquires a second primetime NFL package. NBC declined to comment.
Legendary Al Michaels, 75, is expected to leave his job as NBC’s lead NFL play-by-play announcer after the January 2022 Super Bowl, with Mike Tirico moving into the role.
Tirico, who this past week launched a noon weekday talk show on NBC-SN, has been NBC’s prime-time Olympic host, play-by-play voice for Notre Dame football and NFL studio host, among other assignments. He previously was ESPN’s “Monday Night Football” announcer before leaving for NBC in 2016.
Brees also had conversations with ESPN, which was unwilling to make the financial commitment that Brees was seeking for the lead analyst job on “Monday Night Football.” ESPN continues to explore options to replace Booger McFarland in its MNF booth, with Dan Orlovsky and Louis Riddick among the candidates.
The future role of ESPN MNF play-by-play man Joe Tessitore also remains very much in question.
• CBS dropped Fouts, the 68-year-old Hall of Fame quarterback who has had a 32-year career as a broadcaster that included many years as a college football announcer for ABC and later as an NFL announcer for CBS since 2008, including the past six years alongside Ian Eagle on the network’s No. 2 team.
• According to a source, CBS immediately targeted Fox’s Davis to replace Fouts on its No. 2 team, and Davis has accepted the job, joining CBS for essentially the same position he held at Fox. Davis will be paired with Eagle, comprising CBS’ new No. 2 team behind Jim Nantz and Tony Romo.
Davis, 55, previously worked as an assistant athletic director at Stanford University, director of the United States Olympic Training Center, and also was a manager at Disney’s Wide World of Sports.
Davis, who also works for NFL Network, joined Fox in 2006 and has worked alongside Kevin Burkhardt on Fox’s No. 2 NFL team the past three seasons.
Davis’ move leaves Fox scrambling to find a No. 2 NFL game analyst behind Troy Aikman. The job eventually is expected to go to former UM tight end Greg Olsen when he retires. But Olsen, 35, recently signed with the Seattle Seahawks.