Getty ImagesESPN’s coverage of the NFL isn’t going to look too much different in the next few years.
Richard Deitsch of SI.com reports that the network has signed four of their best-known contributors to multi-year deals. Mel Kiper Jr. signed a six-year deal with the network that will keep him front and center during the draft, Adam Schefter will spend the next five years sharing information gleaned from around the league and John Clayton and Ed Werder each signed four-year extensions. The news comes one day after Monday Night Football pregame host Stuart Scott’s contract extension was announced.
“They could have been talking to other people, but our focus was let’s just worry about ourselves and let’s get these guys locked up,” ESPN senior vice president and executive producer Mark Gross told Deitsch. “Let’s make it a no-brainer for them to stay at ESPN for multiple years.”
According to the report, Werder will be the only member of the group taking on a different role in the years to come. The network will be expanding his role on their football programming and using him to cover news from around the NFL instead of just focusing on the Cowboys.
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Aw man, you mean they didn’t pick up Hugh Douglas and Antonio Pierce’s contract yet? Those guys are so insightful!!!!
Good move, all four offer fantastic insight.
I’ve always liked Mel’s hair, there’s something about Schefter that creeps me out, Clayton and Werder should do radio exclusively.
Schefter is the only respectable one in that group.
Impressive to see ESPN get all these veterans locked long-term deals. I’m surprised they didn’t let Clayton test the free agent market. I also thought they might slap the franchise tag on Kiper but I guess they wanted to get a deal done sooner rather than later. I wonder how their cap space is looking. Maybe they’ll sign some big name free agents this off season.
Television executives must be the dumbest people on the planet.
Consumer, your opinion is of zero consequence.
Thank god they resigned Werder. I was afraid I wouldn’t know what was happening with the Cowboys.
I like Schefter and Kiper when they are discussing prospects. It’s about the only time you might get dissenting points of view ut of ESPN.
Four more years of awkwardness from Clayton. Telling us how negociacions are going.
Hopefully the next announcement will be that Todd McShay has been given an indefinite leave of absence. See, now that he’s finally hitting puberty, his body is going through a lot of changes, and it’s just too much for him to handle.
You can combine all of these guys talents together and they still couldn’t carry Mike Mayock’s jock. I can barely stomach ESPN’s analysts these days, so I am exclusivley an NFL Network guy. I will never watch the NFL Draft on ESPN again. And if I have to see Stuart Scott or listen to Mike Patrick and Mike Tirico again I am going to throw myself off of a cliff and hope I die on impact.
That guy its a Jerrah stooge. I could never take anything espn or he says about Dallas seriously.
Kiper is just fine with me. Stuart Scott should have been dumped years ago.
Those are pretty good…but pierce and douglas?? I cant like them being a cowboys fan sorry.
one guy I do like is marcellus wiley..very insightful, smart, and should take stinks job he thinks hes gods gift to tv
I wish I had the job security of Mel Kiper for a job that more or less consists of throwing a dart at a team and a dart at a name for 10 weeks a year.
You can tell whos more worried about their job and their star power by the amount of years. Less is more in this case.
Kiper whos obviously nervous about job opportunities took a 6 year contract. Id say ESPN will lose money on him, most people cant stand him
Since when do you have to start signing tools I thought you can just pick them up from your local hardware store. Those jokers can’t get a pick rite but the number one.
Please tell me the extra usage of Werder means the end of Chris Mortensen. All of his updates were stuff people already knew a week ago.
Clayton looks like an angry elf or troll
#TEAMMAYOCK
Does that mean Trey Wingo got the Franchise Tag?
steviep23 says:
Jul 11, 2012 4:18 PM
Four more years of awkwardness from Clayton. Telling us how negociacions are going.
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LOL…that drives me crazy but even worse is his constant use of “also…too” as a phrase.
They still let men cover football at espn? Every time I surf by they seem to have some chick on so I just keep moving.