NBC’s not-so-secret plan to have Drew Brees replace Chris Collinsworth on Sunday night is underway – BroBible

By Michael Kennedy On May 3, 2021

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Sports television contracts are signed years in advance between the leagues and their broadcast partners. However, it is rather uncommon for a deal between a person and a network to be made in advance, as Drew Brees did last year. The 41-year-old pondered his gaming future last January and received calls from some networks trying to get him to call Games. In April, the then Saints’ quarterback signed a contract with NBC that would begin after he retired from the NFL.

Well, Brees returned for a final season before retiring in March after a loss in the NFC divisional round to eventual Super Bowl champions.

ESPN, Fox and NBC knew his time in the league was about to end and all tried to lock Brees up before their competitors, but he ultimately settled on the Peacock for around $ 6.5 million a year. For comparison, Troy Aikman makes about $ 7 million from FOX, and the number is almost double Tony Romo’s rookie deal with CBS.

Getting straight from the field to an NFL broadcast booth is a difficult task, with Romo being the exception, and the network has a plan to put him in the role. Reports surfaced last month that NBC has a “secret plan” to replace longtime Sunday Night Football host Chris Collinsworth with Brees in the not-too-distant future. It looks like this plan is slowly taking shape.

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The network announced on Thursday that Brees will be calling Notre Dame football games in the fall along with Mike Tirico and side reporter Kathryn Tappen. Last season Tony Dungy was on the booth after replacing Doug Flutie and now Brees will replace him.

Other reports say he will also work for the network as an analyst for the Sunday Night Football audition “Football Night In America” as well as for the upcoming Olympics this summer, though none of those rumors have been confirmed by NBC. Once Brees gets used to being an on-air talent, it seems like he and Tirico will take on Al Michaels and Collinsworth at SNF for the next season. Not this coming season, but the next one.

NBC owns the rights to this year’s Super Bowl 56 on February 6, 2022, and it would be an incredibly opportune time to send Collinsworth and Michaels onto the biggest stage with a proper goodbye. After the end of the broadcast calendar year, it makes a lot of sense to turn the page to a new chapter on the NBC booth.

Meanwhile, Brees will be on the air for at least seven games this fall:

September 11: Notre Dame versus Toledo, 2:30 p.m.
September 18: Notre Dame vs Purdue, 2:30 p.m.
October 2: Notre Dame v Cincinnati, 2:30 p.m.
October 23: Notre Dame v USC, 7:30 p.m.
October 30: Notre Dame v North Carolina, 7:30 p.m.
November 6: Notre Dame versus Navy, 3:30 p.m.
November 20: Notre Dame v Georgia Tech, 2:30 p.m.

In addition, the blue and gold Notre Dame spring game will be broadcast exclusively on Peacock this Saturday. There’s no telling yet if Brees will be pushed into the booth for the game right away, but his NBC debut could come tomorrow. Most likely it will be a “b-squad” calling the game. However, given the low expectations for a show in the Spring Game, it could be a great opportunity for Brees to get his chops wet.