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Pat McAfee had a big paycheck this week. But JJ Watt had a bigger question.
ESPN spent the week trimming its roster, and McAfee’s show carried on like nothing happened. Then JJ Watt showed up. The former Houston Texans star joined The Pat McAfee Show on Tuesday to pick up a “Good Guy” award. He picked a fight instead, or at least something close to one.
“Slow, slow news day over there on the ESPN airwaves, huh?” Watt asked, grinning through the satellite feed. “I mean, besides the fact that you’re getting $100 million… Did they keep anybody? Or is everybody fired to pay you? I’m trying to figure that out.”
JJ Watt Puts Pat McAfee On The Spot Over His ESPN Salary
The room lost it before McAfee could even respond. His panel howled. He sat there for a second, visibly caught off guard.
Then he recovered, the way hosts usually do. “We do not appreciate that,” McAfee said, still smiling through it. “That is the narrative, and I’m certainly taking it on the shins. The boys and I are very proud of the work that we have done.”
Here’s the thing. McAfee’s production company reportedly earns somewhere between $60 million and $65 million annually from ESPN. Reports have also suggested a new deal could push that number higher. He didn’t confirm Watt’s $100 million figure. He didn’t fully deny it either.
“Don’t be reading the internet like that,” McAfee told him. “OK, you’re smarter than that.”
Watt wasn’t done. “Oh, I read it,” he said, smiling the whole time.
This wasn’t a small story Watt was poking at. ESPN’s cuts touched a wide swath of the network’s NFL and studio talent.
Among those shown the door:
- NFL analyst Ryan Clark
- Longtime baseball voice Karl Ravech
- Former NFL MVP Cam Newton
- SportsCenter anchor David Lloyd
- Injury analyst Stephania Bell
- NFL analyst Charles Davis
- NFL analyst Bart Scott
- NFL insider Tom Pelissero
- Combat sports reporter Andreas Hale
- Staff writer Dan Hajducky
Ryan Clark’s exit stung the most, at least optically. Reports indicate he found out while filming NFL Live. That’s a rough way to go after nearly a decade as one of the network’s steadiest NFL voices.
Karl Ravech’s departure closed out 33 years at ESPN. He called Sunday Night Baseball. He hosted Baseball Tonight. He learned his run was over shortly after calling a Dodgers-Phillies game the night before. Cam Newton’s release surprised people too. He signed a new deal just last year. He’d become a regular on First Take. None of that mattered in the end.
None of this happened in a vacuum. ESPN finalized a deal in January giving the NFL a 10 percent stake in the network. In exchange, ESPN picked up NFL Network, NFL Fantasy, and RedZone distribution rights. That merger created overlap. Two NFL Network veterans, Tom Pelissero and Charles Davis, got caught in it.
ESPN Chairman Jimmy Pitaro addressed the moves in a staff memo. “We have taken the time to carefully evaluate our collective teams, resources, and organizational structure to best position us for the future,” he wrote.
McAfee touched on the same idea during the show, framing the cuts as unavoidable given the size of the companies involved. “We hate anytime this happens,” he said. “Obviously, this is terrible. We don’t like that, but we are very honored that we are still partnering with ESPN and Disney for the good of sport for the future.”
All of this is happening less than a year before ESPN airs its first Super Bowl. That’s the backdrop here. Whether more names get added to this list before then is anyone’s guess.
