ESPN executive Mike Foss has gushed over ‘generational’ Pat McAfee amid ongoing negotiations over a huge new contract.
McAfee is currently in talks over a new deal that could see him earn more than $60 million with the network, per The Athletic.
The former NFL punter has become an increasingly prominent voice on ESPN since he joined the network in 2023.
His current deal is worth around $30 million per year between his Pat McAfee Show production agreement and his role on ESPN College GameDay, as well as appearing on numerous other shows including expending to ‘Monday Night Countdown’ this season.
McAfee’s daily show is overseen by Mike Foss, the Executive Vice President, Executive Editor, Sports News and Entertainment at ESPN.
And he has now given some fascinating insight into what he and the network sees in McAfee having decided to back him in an increasingly big way in recent years.
Pat McAfee has received gushing praise from an ESPN executive over his on-air talents
Pat McAfee is expected to earn over $60 million a year when he agrees a new ESPN contract
Asked one word to describe McAfee while appearing at the Front Office Sports’s Tuned In summit, Foss went for ‘generational’ and bluntly said he has ‘absolutely nothing’ to say to critics of his College GameDay antics.
In high praise of McAfee, Foss said: ‘He is, he might be, a journalist at heart. I think what you find is he puts the show together each day, something piques his interest, he’s got the rolodex, so he’s able to navigate waters and has built access that a lot of people don’t have the ability to do.
‘So when he needs to get information, whether he’s on the show or off, he’s able to grab it very quickly.
‘I think he’s underrated as an interview, I think it’s also very interesting, he’s almost like a Rorschach test, in terms of what he is.
‘He’s not just a talent, he’s a producer, he’s an interview, he’s an actor. So I find it fascinating to see what other people’s definitions are of him, because I actually think it says more about them than him.’
McAfee will also be involved in the upcoming Super Bowl, the first ever ESPN production of the big game, as he hosts an alt-cast in February.
And Foss refused to rule out him one day making his way into the booth as his role continues to expand.
‘Pat can do whatever he wants,’ Foss said. ‘If Pat wants to call football games full-time, that’s a decision that he’s gonna make, and I would never bet against him.’
