At some point today, ESPN announced that they have signed several members of their football "team" to contract extension. The World Wide Leader has been dealing with a huge year of free agency, with Michelle Beadle and Erin Andrews taking off for NBC and FOX, respectively. Today, ESPN announced contract extensions for Mel Kiper, Jr., Adam Schefter, John Clayton, Ed Werder and Stuart Scott. I include Scott because of his work on Monday Night Football.
The biggest deal belongs to their draft guru, Kiper, who will remain with them through 2018. Schefter signed an extension through 2017 and Clayton and Werder signed through 2016. It sounds like Werder will see his role expand beyond just reporting on Cowboys news. He has been the guy they focus on the Cowboys in years past, but he will apparently get more work with SportsCenter, Sunday NFL Countdown and Monday Night Countdown.
ESPN has become the big dog over the years, but enough negatives have me generally preferring NFL Network's coverage. That's not exactly shocking, but there are still folks who enjoy their ESPN. It's not that I think it's awful, but there are enough things bugging me on a daily basis that I just find myself tuning it out.
Just for the heck of it, I thought I'd include a poll of who you enjoy for your Sunday/Monday NFL coverage. Fox and CBS are really more just about Sunday morning pre-game, but I figured I'd include them. Generally I stick to NFL Network on Sunday mornings, but sometimes flip back to ESPN. FOX and CBS aren't awful in pre-game, but they're a bit inconsistent for my taste.