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2022 NFL offseason news thread


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On 2/24/2022 at 12:23 PM, LTtxfan said:

Hanging your hat on Troy Aikman to draw more viewers on Monday Nights ?? 😋 

(Aikman is so boring -- seems like NFL has passed him by.   FOX probably better off bringing in new talent anyway. )

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Now that's funny -- Looks like Aikman needed Joe Buck 😋

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Joe Buck leaving Fox to join ESPN

The move signals and end of an era at Fox, and possibly the beginning of a new one for all NFL broadcasters.

ZACH BARNETT. MAR 11, 2022

Joe Buck is leaving Fox and expected to sign a 5-year contract worth up to $75 million in total, the New York Post reported Friday.

The move is the latest in the NFL's ongoing game of thrones, started after Tony Romo signed a $175 million contract in 2020 to remain with CBS. 

Buck gives up a lot to leave Fox. The network made him the youngest NFL TV man ever, at 25 years old, in 1994, and he'd been the voice of the network for more than a quarter century. At Fox, Buck called a record 24 World Series and six Super Bowls. ESPN's baseball portfolio pales in comparison to Fox's, and it is not slated to host a Super Bowl until the 2026 season. (At Fox, Buck would've called two of the next three Super Bowls.) Fox's late Sunday afternoon window typically draws more viewers than ESPN's Monday Night package.

But what Buck gives up, in both wattage and hours on the air, pales in comparison to what he gains. First on the list is the money; Buck made $11 million a year at Fox, and the ESPN deal takes him up to as high as $15. Next is friendship. (And isn't that worth more than money after all?) Joining ESPN reunites Buck with longtime partner Troy Aikman, who joined the network last month at a cost of $90 million. Buck and Aikman have worked together since 2002, and as a 2-man booth since 2005.

"I think a lot of partners get along, but to be as good friends as what we are — he truly is one of my best friends," Aikman told WFAA-TV in Dallas last week. "He's been a fantastic partner, in my opinion the best in the business. Yeah, there's nothing I'd love more than to continue to work with him."

The Post also reports Buck will produce shows for ESPN+. 

When considering that Buck will now make more money to work less often, the move was an easy one, network loyalties and all.

In securing the Buck and Aikman team, ESPN signals a fundamental reimagining of the value of a A-list broadcasters. The Worldwide Leader has worked hard to increase its standing among NFL broadcasters -- adding a playoff game, upping its regular season schedule to 25 games in 2023, and rejoining the Super Bowl rotation after two decades on the outside looking in. Between Buck, Aikman and the Manning brothers, ESPN will spend $50 million a year simply on the soundtrack to its NFL games, which it pays more than $2 billion a year to air. 

From the Post:

The network also feels it now has the star power to attract even better games from the NFL. 

That $50 million a year, in ESPN's mind, is an investment, or at least an educated gamble. People may or may not watch games for the announcers, but they watch games for the matchups, and the network believes better announcers will lead to better matchups.

With Buck and Aikman gone, Fox also signals it views the value of A-list talent differently than its peers. The No. 1 crews at CBS (Jim Nantz, Romo), NBC (Mike Tirico, Cris Collinsworth, who just signed a new $12.5 million deal), ESPN (Buck, Aikman) and Amazon (expected to be Al Michaels and Kirk Herbstreit) will average north of $10 million a year per announcer. Fox won't be anywhere close to that. Its No. 2 crew (Kevin Burkhardt and Greg Olson) made between $3 and 4 million in 2021, according to the Post.

Assuming Fox slides that pair up a chair -- and that seems like a safe assumption, considering how odd it would be if Fox went big game hunting after not offering Aikman a new contract and letting Buck walk -- they may not earn $10 million a year between them. And that's the crew that will probably call two of the next three Super Bowls, including this coming season's.

On the balance sheet, Fox's position is undoubtedly correct. Will any of the 112.3 million people that watched Super Bowl LVI not tuned into Super Bowl LVII because Burkhardt and Olsen (or someone else) will call the game instead of Buck and Aikman? No.

But will the NFL be more inclined to hold a Cowboys-Packers game for Monday night instead of a Sunday afternoon because of Buck and Aikman? 

ESPN is about to spend $50 million a year to find out

 

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Rodgers ain’t gonna like that.

Supposedly Rodgers has been part of this trying to convince him to sign his tag. Packers matched the Raiders salary offer but he moved to Raiders anyway. He wanted to leave as he built a big house in Vegas and Carr is his bff since college at Fresno st. Packers get this year 1 and 2.

So $50m man Rodgers top W/R right now are Allen Lazard and Randall Cobb. OBJ won’t likely be ready in September. Juju? Who do they get?
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18 minutes ago, Pam Cummings said:

Why is Miami allowed to be so stupid?

Want to play a fun game? Go to Google and type in "Florida Man" and the day and month of your birth. There are enough crazy Floridians to have multiple wacky events for every day.

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33 minutes ago, Michael Knight said:

thats alot of speed on the field

And no QB to make it work like Mahomes. I hope they are looking for a new QB. Tua is not that guy. This is the kind of move you make when you have the QB in place. 

Also, this seems like a weird move for KC. Windows are short in the NFL. They are in their prime to keep competing. As long as they have Mahomes/Hill/Kelce, they can overcome a lot and keep competing. Yes, they gain a lot of draft capital but we all know how hit or miss that is. Losing Hill puts a big dent in how that offense works. He is one of the best deep threats in the game. He stretched the field big time. Without the worry of his speed and threat, is Kelce now as effective? We will see. They did add McCaffery and Juju Schuster. Seems those moves were being made to offset the eventual loss of Hill they knew was looming.

 

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