Sean McVay had a chance to climb aboard the S.S. Bezos last year. Surely, McVay regrets not jumping from the Rams at a time when the championship ship is sinking.
McVay may have another chance, after passing on an offer from Amazon in early 2022. Via Michael McCarthy of FrontOfficeSports.com, NFL broadcast partners are “eyeing” McVay as a potential game or studio analyst for 2023.
Obviously, there’s less sizzle for McVay than there was a year ago. Complicating matters is the absence of big-money spots within the various broadcast booths. Absent the expansion of a two-man operation to three (and many in NFL broadcasting despise the notion of a running three-man weave), someone would have to go in order to create a prime booth spot for McVay.
With big-money deals devoted to the top game analysts (Tony Romo at CBS, Troy Aikman at ESPN/ABC, Cris Collinsworth at NBC, Tom Brady -- eventually -- at Fox, and Kirk Herbstreit at Amazon), it’s highly unlikely that a major network would “part ways” with a top analyst in order to create a spot for McVay.
The No. 2 spot would be open at Fox, if Brady doesn’t bump Greg Olsen out of the top spot. Or, frankly, Fox could make McVay No. 1 pending Brady’s retirement.
Then there’s the possibility of McVay joining a studio show. The money is far different and, as Drew Brees learned in 2021, the raw energy is, too. But changes are made on an annual basis at most pregame shows, with some former players and coaches leaving (voluntarily or otherwise) and new former players and coaches arriving.
Again, McVay has less cachet than he possessed after winning the Super Bowl. He may want to rebuild things a bit before wandering to TV.
Or maybe he realizes that years of “eff them picks” will make 2022 not an aberration but the start of a new trend for the Rams. If so, that will make McVay’s star shine even less brightly in the coming years.
Which could make it even smarter for him to get while the getting’s still good.
