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Following Jon Gruden's decision to become the next head coach of the Oakland Raiders, it has put ESPN on the market looking for his replacement on the Monday Night Football broadcast team.
According to Richard Deitsch of SI.com, the company is expected to speak with the former two-time Super Bowl champion quarterback Peyton Manning about the open vacancy.
“We like Peyton Manning,” ESPN executive Stephanie Druley tells Richard Deitsch of SI.com. “And we would be foolish not to talk him.”
Since his retirement two years ago, Manning has yet to commit to anything completely at this point in time. He has been rumored to be linked an array of positions ranging from the front office of an NFL team to becoming a politician to owning an NFL team. In the process, he has remained aloof away from settling down in any one area.
Although Manning has yet to express any public interest in possibly working in that capacity, there is no harm on ESPN's behalf in asking to see if the future Hall of Famer would take the job. He is still one of the most recognizable names in the NFL despite having stepped away two seasons ago. His hiring would be a major splash helping bring back some excitement and legitimacy that was lost with Gruden's departure.
The financial means for the position will likely not be a question as ESPN has shown in the past that they are willing to pay top dollar for on-air talent. Manning certainly falls into that discussion as a tremendous amount of expertise with the game that potential to could translate into him becoming a highly successful on-air color analyst in a similar fashion to Tony Romo in his first year with CBS.
ESPN will likely talk to several different candidates for the position regardless of what happens with Manning in order to get what they believe is the best person to pair with Sean McDonough in the booth over the next several years.
