According to a report from the NY Post, ESPN could be preparing a massive offer to former Denver Broncos QB Peyton Manning to replace Jon Gruden…
Peyton Manning has certainly had no shortage of offers in the professional world since retiring from the game of football. His most recent offer might end up being the most significant, however.
This would be a huge get for ESPN, considering Gruden was fading in terms of his universal support from viewers, and he and Sean McDonough — as the article speculates — lacked some chemistry in the booth.
Gruden, of course, took the job as the Oakland Raiders’ new head coach, signing at $100 million deal over the next 10 years.
The article also says that Gruden was making $6.5 million per year from ESPN, which Manning would almost certainly surpass.
If ESPN is going to get Manning to dedicate his life to the entertainment business and presumably whatever responsibilities Gruden had, it’s going to take a lot of money.
Perhaps even better than signing Manning on for Monday Night Football would be a re-vamp of the Gruden’s QB Camp only with Manning running the show.
Quite honestly, that would be a huge deal for ESPN if they were able to land Manning, if even just for that every year.
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But having Manning in the booth, having him available for the NFL Draft, and having him for the QB camp episodes and whatever else they can come up with would be incredible for the sports entertainment business.
Permit me to be a bit honest for a moment.
I grew up watching (and loving) ESPN and SportsCenter and pretty much anything and everything that aired on that network. In my adulthood, and over the past 10-15 years, it seems ESPN has been on a slow but very certain decline in the quality of their content.
Manning could help resurrect that.
As we all know from his many commercial spots, appearances on Saturday Night Live, and his incredible job hosting the ESPYs, Manning is made for on-camera work.
If we can get more of him, that sounds like a big win all around.