ESPN’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.