ESPN is giving viewers more Pat McAfee as they add him to its NFL Monday Night Football broadcasts this season after conducting layoffs.
Over the summer, ESPN has conducted layoffs, but there will be more of former NFL punter Pat McAfee on the air after he was added to Monday Night Football’s pre-game program.
The Athletic reports that McAfee will be joining Monday Night Countdown, which means he will likely be part of the network’s Super Bowl coverage in February 2027.
He joins host Scott Van Pelt, Jason Kelce, Marcus Spears, and Jason McCourty. McAfee is replacing the recently let go Ryan Clark.
McAfee joining Monday Night Countdown doesn’t affect his daily talk show, which airs on ESPN. Additionally, he will still be part of College GameDay.
That means that ESPN will be featuring McAfee heavily throughout the season. The latest move comes after it was reported that he was in negotiations with ESPN on a contract extension. The new deal would reportedly pay him upwards of $60 million a year. At the time of the initial report, they were “between $50 to 65 million per year.”
More than likely, a contract extension and salary increase would come with more responsibilities. Perhaps among those was his addition to the Monday Night Countdown pre-game show.
He started hosting The Pat McAfee Show after his retirement in September 2019. Four years after its premiere, the show moved to ESPN. Since then, he has become one of the network’s leading faces alongside Stephen A. Smith.
Monday Night Football will still be called by Joe Buck and Troy Aikman with Lisa Salters and Laura Rutledge. Peyton and Eli Manning will still host their alternate broadcast.
ESPN’s layoffs have hit the company hard. Clark was among the many names let go by the network. Longtime broadcasters like Karl Ravech, who was with ESPN for 33 years, were let go.
Other notable names that were laid off include NFL insider Tom Pelissero, David Lloyd, Stephanie Bell, Charles Davis, and Cam Newton.
Over the summer, ESPN has conducted layoffs, but there will be more of former NFL punter Pat McAfee on the air after he was added to Monday Night Football’s pre-game program. The Athletic reports that McAfee will be joining Monday Night Countdown, which means he will likely be part of the network’s Super Bowl coverage in February 2027.