The network wars are taking more and more aggressive steps to recruit soldiers.
Andrew Marchand of the New York Post reports that three networks are chasing Saints quarterback Drew Brees, even though he will be playing at least one more season.
ESPN, FOX, and NBC all want Brees, Marchand writes. Brees reportedly has told network executives that he wants to work games.
Marchand pegs the magnitude of a Brees offer at $6.5 million annually, far less than the Tony Romo package of $18 million per year. But Romo started with a three-year, $10 million deal; Brees apparently would be on a similar path, where he’d establish himself and then cash in.
That rule, of course, doesn’t apply to Peyton Manning, who remains in position to get top dollar whenever he chooses to enter a booth -- if he ever chooses to enter a broadcast booth.
Several years ago, Brees told PFT Live that he envisions a post-football life that has him trying multiple different things. Broadcasting makes the most sense as a starting point.
Frankly, Brees seems to be destined to eventually find his way into public service, a fancy, aspirational term for partisan politics.