Stephen A. Smith has made it clear that he wants to be the highest-paid person at ESPN and the NFL is key to making that happen. Front Office Sports reporter Michael McCarthy reports that Smith being more involved on NFL coverage could be key to keeping him at ESPN along with a $20 million contract ask.

“As the lead face and voice of ESPN, Smith has made it crystal clear he wants to be the highest-paid talent at the network,” McCarthy said. “His current deal expires in July 2025. As the lead face and voice of ESPN, the 56-year-old host of First Take could command a salary of $20 million annually; Troy Aikman is currently No. 1 at $18 million. If Smith doesn’t get it, he could strike out on his own, via his eponymous podcast/YouTube show and production company Mr. SAS Inc. Or sign a deal with ESPN parent Disney to succeed Jimmy Kimmel as ABC’s late-night talk show host. Or enter politics, as he’s discussed with his Fox News pal Sean Hannity.”

Smith has demonstrated a penchant for the NFL, having been inspired by legendary sports broadcaster Howard Cosell. He spotlighted Cosell in his ESPN+ series Up for Debate: The Evolution of Sports Media and mentioned him as an inspiration in an appearance at the Barrett Sports Media Summit in March. In a conversation with Jason Barrett, he made a point of speaking about the NFL with regularity on First Take.

“I’m looking at the NFL and I’m saying, ‘Wait a minute, I’ve accomplished a lot of things in my life, but my idol was Howard Cosell, who was in the NFL. I talk about the NFL on First Take every day. I think I can do it. All of a sudden you get excited about it.”

Notably enough, Smith's other colleagues in the industry see Cosell's influence on Smith. SportsCenter host Michael Eaves, as highlighted by McCarthy, spoke about it on The Jake Asman Show in 2021.

“Here is what people have to understand: Stephen A. Smith is the modern-day Howard Cosell. Howard Cosell was an attorney, and all of a sudden, he became a sportscaster. So was he from the boxing world? No. Was he covering boxing on ABC? Yes. Was he from the NFL world? Did he play football? No. Was he in the Monday Night Football booth? Yes. That’s who Stephen A. Smith is. He is polarizing because he has an opinion on just about everything. You’re not going to make everybody happy.”

It's unlikely Smith follows Cosell's path in calling football games for ESPN but he surely could leverage his popularity to get appearances on ESPN's coverage of the NFL throughout the year and even appear on ESPN's NFL studio shows and the Monday Night Football pregame show.