ESPN may not have grabbed Drew Brees for the 2020 season, but it appears their pursuit of the veteran quarterback isn’t over yet.
The network still appears to have an interest in having Brees join its “Monday Night Football” team once he retires, according to The New York Post’s Andrew Marchand. ESPN had been pursuing Brees for the 2020 season before the Saints quarterback signed a two-year, $50 million deal with New Orleans in March.
But ESPN apparently isn’t the only outlet interested in picking up Brees post-retirement.
Here’s what Marchand had to say about the situation:
NBC and Fox have been ESPN’s competitors for Brees. The 41-year-old has told network executives that he prefers to do games, which means that NBC could be eyeing Brees for a potential second NFL package. NBC could also try to groom Brees in studio as Cris Collinsworth’s replacement one day far down the road.
… FOX could consider Brees for “Thursday Night Football,” its studio or the No. 2 Sunday team.
For ESPN, the whole situation is somewhat awkward because of the coronavirus and the fact that the company still hasn’t officially said it is replacing its current Monday Night team of Joe Tessitore and Booger McFarland.
Interesting.
Steve Levy, Louis Riddick and Dan Orlovsky currently are top candidates for “Monday Night Football” in 2020, per Marchand. Whether ESPN will land Brees after he retires, however, remains to be seen.
