1. The NFL (and college football) broadcast world was changed in a significant way on Wednesday.
CBS announced that its lead college football analyst, Gary Danielson, will retire after the upcoming season. Charles Davis, who has been CBS’s No. 2 NFL analyst for the past five seasons after coming over from Fox, will take over for Danielson and become Brad Nessler’s partner beginning in the 2026 season.
J.J. Watt, who worked on CBS’s pregame show for the past two seasons, will replace Davis as the network’s No. 2 NFL analyst, getting paired with Ian Eagle.
Davis will remain an NFL broadcaster for CBS this season before moving to college football next season.
This leaves a spot open on NFL Today. Fox also has a spot open on its pregame show after the recent retirement of Jimmy Johnson. Fox, however, has enough people on its cast that it doesn’t need to fill that role if it doesn’t want to.
CBS is down to just Bill Cowher, Nate Burleson and Matt Ryan on NFL Today, with James Brown as host.
Here is some pure speculation on who CBS could turn to to fill Watt’s spot on the panel.
Kyle Long: Long has been with CBS’s That Other Pregame Show since 2020, minus one year when he went back to the NFL to play for the Chiefs. If CBS wanted to stay in house, promoting Long, who is excellent on TOPS, to NFL Today could be an easy fix.
Chris Long: Kyle’s brother Chris has carved out a solid media career with his Green Light Podcast and his role on Inside the NFL. If CBS brought in Chris, the network could play up the whole brothers thing with Kyle and use that angle for content.
Dan Orlovsky: Orlovsky’s contract with ESPN expires some time in the near future. While Orlovsky has built something very impressive at the Worldwide Leader, he is not on ESPN’s Sunday pregame show. The idea of being on a network pregame show has to have some appeal. Orlovsky’s X’s and O’s film work would work well on a pregame show.
Kyle Brandt: Brandt has been part of CBS’s pregame show for a couple of years doing creative sketches/bits outside the studio. Moving Brandt to the desk would be unique because people who aren’t former players or coaches are usually personas non grata on a pregame show. You’d also have a nice Good Morning Football reunion with Brandt and Burleson on the panel together.
Nobody: A very viable option for CBS could be to hire a stop-gap for one year and wait for people such as Mike Tomlin, Sean McVay and Travis Kelce to possibly become available after this season.
No matter which way CBS goes, I can tell you from rumblings I’ve heard over the past few weeks that there are going to be some significant changes in the NFL media world before next season gets under way.
2. A brand-new SI Media With Jimmy Traina podcast dropped this morning. This week’s episode features a conversation with The Athletic’s Richard Deitsch about all the latest sports media news.
Among some of the topics covered: Pat McAfee getting LeBron James in-studio for over an hour; impressive ratings for the men's and women's NCAA tournament; J.J. Watt becoming CBS's No. 2 NFL analyst; Stephen A. Smith and RGIII playing the media game; the one problem with Caitlin Clark's national TV appearances; UConn's communications director threatening a reporter for posting video of Dan Hurley ripping officials; how the WWE has handled John Cena's heel turn and more.
Following Deitsch, Sal Licata from WFAN radio and SNY TV in New York joins me for the weekly "Traina Thoughts" segment. This week's topics include the NCAA tournament, MLB Opening Day, Licata's day at a New York Rangers game, a must-watch wrestling show and much more.
You can listen to the SI Media With Jimmy Traina podcast below or on Apple and Spotify.
You can also watch SI Media With Jimmy Traina on Sports Illustrated‘s YouTube channel.
3. MLB commissioner Rob Manfred was a guest on Chris “Mad Dog” Russo’s SiriusXM show on Wednesday. Manfred addressed ESPN dumping MLB after this season.
“Look, there was a level of dissatisfaction on our part,” said Manfred. “It started, you know, with the end of Baseball Tonight. I think if you watch ESPN–and I do–you know, where we appear on SportsCenter in the morning, there were issues. And, look, there was a level of dissatisfaction with that. Having said that, did we want to be partners with them? Yes. But, you know, taking less money? And look, I'll say this publicly because I said it to them, they stepped up for the NBA, they stepped up for football, stepped up for this one, and to come back to us and say, ‘We want to cut you.’”
Later in the interview, when Russo asked Manfred if he was disappointed that Fox did not send broadcasters to Tokyo to call the Dodgers-Cubs opening series (they called the games remotely), Manfred said, “It will be a cold day in hell before you hear me criticize a partner. They have been heaven and continue to be the best possible partner. It’s like being married. Do I agree with every single decision they make? No, I don’t. But on balance, Fox does right be our game.”
This was a completely ridiculous and pathetic quote by Manfred. For starters, he didn’t answer Russo’s question about Fox not sending broadcasters to call the Dodgers-Cubs game.
But what’s even more nonsensical is that Manfred is all bent out of shape because ESPN cancelled Baseball Tonight, but he loves Fox, which puts the league championship series on FS1 because Fox is busy airing Kitchen Nightmares.
Absurd.
Getting an NLCS or ALCS in front of as many eyeballs as possible is much more important than a show like Baseball Tonight in this day and age.
4. This seems like one of the fakest television viewership numbers you could possibly have, given the NCAA tournament is such a monster sports bar/sportsbook event.
According to Nielsen data, approximately 3000 people watched at least one minute of all 48 March Madness first and second round games.
— Michael Mulvihill (@mulvihill79) March 26, 2025
Congratulations to these American heroes.
5. Nikola Jokic did this last night.
JOKIC DIME OF THE YEAR???! 😱😱
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) March 27, 2025
ARE YOU KIDDING ME. pic.twitter.com/hyYEnin3XS
This Jokic angle is WILD pic.twitter.com/ALSHxrBcxw
— Zach Bye (@byesline) March 27, 2025
6. This was gross.
Stephen A. Smith on LeBron James: "I suggest that he be happy with the things that I haven't brought up. I never brought up really and never really discussed why you were not at Kobe Bryant's memorial service. I never really brought up or discussed why you did not attend Dwyane… pic.twitter.com/Wji02Zidej
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) March 27, 2025
7. RANDOM VIDEO OF THE DAY: Happy 62nd birthday to the electric Randall Cunningham. (Enjoy the great Verne Lundquist here, as well.)
December 2, 1990: In Buffalo, Randall Cunningham avoids a safety by ducking under Bruce Smith who was charging from behind him in the end zone, rolls out and throws it 50+ yards in the air to Fred Barnett who catches it and takes it for a 95-yd TD. pic.twitter.com/MonI5p5BFL
— This Day In Sports Clips (@TDISportsClips) December 2, 2022
Be sure to catch up on past editions of Traina Thoughts and check out the Sports Illustrated Media Podcast hosted by Jimmy Traina on Apple, Spotify or Google. You can also follow Jimmy on X and Instagram.
This article was originally published on www.si.com as NFL Media Undergoing Major Shakeups This Offseason.
