With the massive contract CBS gave Tony Romo looming over negotiations, NBC is attempting to work out a deal with Cris Collinsworth to keep him as the lead analyst on Sunday Night Football into 2025, according to The New York Post.
Complicating matters is the status of Collinsworth’s partner Al Michaels, whose current contract with NBC ends after he calls the Super Bowl this February. Though nothing is set in stone, Michaels is believed to be the top target of Amazon, which will exclusively broadcast Thursday Night Football on Prime starting in the 2022 season.
If 77-year-old Michaels does bring his play-by-play talents to the streaming giant — which has contracted with NBC to produce its TNF broadcasts and will only put them online on Prime — Mike Tirico is expected to replace him on SNF. Also, if Michaels leaves SNF, he’ll likely be offered a reduced role with NBC to go along with his Amazon duties.
It’s a game of musical chairs, that also involves NBC’s newest analyst Drew Brees, one that will probably end up with Tirico and Collinsworth in the booth on Sunday nights next season. For that to happen, NBC will likely have to pay Collinsworth somewhere in the $12.5 million range per season, according to Post sources. Fox analyst Troy Aikman, who is also looking for a new contract, could also factor into the TNF equation as he currently calls those games with Joe Buck, but is probably not a candidate to get into the mix at NBC.
“At this point, Brees is not replacing Collinsworth on games, and will continue on Sunday night’s pregame and Notre Dame football,” per the Post. “Brees could be an alternative choice with Michaels for Amazon if Aikman, nor Collinsworth, happen. With his new NBC deal, Collinsworth is potentially setting himself up to call NBC’s next Super Bowl in 2025. If Brees has designs on being a No. 1 NFL game analyst, at this point, he is going to have to wait.”
Like the rest of us will to see how this popsicle headache turns out.
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