Pat McAfee floats Kirk Herbstreit name for interesting career shift

Former NFL punter Pat McAfee has come up with an idea for a career change for ESPN college football analyst Kirk Herbstreit.

On his show on Monday, McAfee elected to throw Herbstreit’s name in the ring as a possible candidate for ESPN’s Monday Night Football broadcast.

“You know Ohio guy friend of the program you know Kirk Herbstreit at ESPN, did a couple of Monday Night games, good. There’s another name but there’s another name that we should maybe throw into the ring there for NFL commentator. ‘Cause I felt like he was like a fish to water going to do the NFL (games); he’s very calm, very calculated,” said McAfee.

The news emerged Wednesday evening that FOX’s Troy Aikman is going to be leaving Fox Sports for ESPN’s Monday Night Football. Aikman’s ESPN deal will be for five years, according to sources, and his yearly salary is expected to approach or exceed the neighborhood of Tony Romo’s $17.5 million per year contract with CBS. The deal is not yet signed, but it is near completion, according to a report released by Andrew Marchand of The New York Post on Wednesday night. But would that kind of money move Herbstreit from the college booth to the pro one at ESPN?

“I love college football. I love he is obsessed and loves college football, but like was there a chance he was offered 17 and a half million dollars for Monday Night Football and he said no to?”

More on Troy Aikman, ESPN

Aikman played quarterback for the Dallas Cowboys from 1989-2000 and helped the Cowboys win three Super Bowls. He was a six-time Pro Bowler and won Super Bowl XXVIII MVP. This year, Dallas played in the NFC Divisional Round — but Aikman and Buck were in Tampa Bay to call the Buccaneers vs. Philadelphia Eagles game. He appeared to voice a bit of his frustration about the decision prior to the broadcast.

“It’s going to be a great game, I mean, a really good game,” Aikman said. “I think there’s a lot of people who would like to be calling that game. But should be a lot of fun.”

Steve Levy, Brian Griese, and Louis Riddick have held down the Monday Night Football booth for the last two seasons. However, Griese’s contract is up, which could be why ESPN is working to make a big splash and sign Aikman.

The news also comes as ESPN’s contract with the NFL changes. By 2023, ESPN and ABC will add six additional games to its slate, including four doubleheaders. That means the network will need another broadcast team in the booth.

On3’s Nick Schultz also contributed to this story.