In a flurry of news on the NFL media front on Friday, the NFL's all-time passing leader committed to join NBC when he retires eventually, CBS dropped one of football's longest-tenured commentators and then raided Fox for a new No. 2 game analyst, according to three industry sources.
Rounding up the moves that impacted Drew Brees, Dan Fouts and Charles Davis:
_ Brees, who in 2018 became the NFL's all-time leader in passing yardage, committed to join NBC when he retires, likely in a year or two. Brees recently signed a two-year, $50 million contract to remain with the Saints but could step away from the playing field after the 2020 season if he chooses.
As soon as he retires, Brees would become NBC's game analyst on Notre Dame football, a role handled by Doug Flutie since 2014. He also will join NBC's Football Night in America Sunday night studio show, where Tony Dungy, Rodney Harrison and Chris Simms are the incumbent analysts.
Down the line, Brees, 41, could join the Sunday night NFL booth, but NBC has no plans to replace Cris Collinsworth, 61, who is very much valued by the network, and no future game analyst role on NFL games was promised to Brees.
Brees also would be in line for an NFL game analyst role if NBC acquires a second prime-time NFL package.
NBC declined to comment on Brees' decision, which an industry source confirmed to The Miami Herald after it was originally reported by The New York Post.
"Like all NFL fans, we look forward to watching Drew continue his Hall of Fame career this fall, and we are confident his post-playing career will be just as successful," NBC Sports spokesman Greg Hughes told The Herald.
Legendary Al Michaels, 75, is expected to leave his job as NBC's lead NFL play by play announcer after the January 2022 Super Bowl, with Mike Tirico moving into the role.
Tirico, who this week launched a noon weekday talk show on NBC-SN, has been NBC's prime-time Olympic host, play-by-play voice for Notre Dame football and NFL studio host, among other assignments. He previously was ESPN's Monday Night Football announcer and No. 2 NBA announcer before leaving for NBC in 2016.
Brees also had conversations with ESPN, which was unwilling to make the financial commitment that Brees was seeking for the lead analyst job on Monday Night Football. ESPN continues to explore options to replace Booger McFarland in its MNF booth, with Dan Orlovsky and Louis Riddick among the candidates. The future role of ESPN MNF play-by-play man Joe Tessitore also remains very much in question.
_ CBS dropped Fouts, the 68-year-old Hall of Fame quarterback who has had a 32-year career as a broadcaster that included many years as a college football announcer for ABC and later as an NFL announcer for CBS since 2008, including the past six years alongside Ian Eagle on the network's No. 2 team.
Fouts, a two-time AFC Player of the Year and six-time Pro Bowler during glory years for the San Diego Chargers, began his long broadcasting career as an NFL analyst for CBS in 1988 and spent the 2000 and 2001 seasons in ABC's Monday Night Football booth.
_ According to a source, CBS immediately targeted Fox's Davis to replace Fouts on its No. 2 team, and Davis informed Fox that he's leaving his job as the No. 2 NFL game analyst at Fox to take the No. 2 NFL game analyst job at CBS.
Davis, 55, was a college safety for the Tennessee Volunteers, where he earned a master's degree, and signed with the Dallas Cowboys as an undrafted free agent in 1987 but waived four months later.
Davis went on to be an assistant athletic director at Stanford University, director of the United States Olympic Training Center, an executive at Disney's Wide World of Sports and then was tournament director of the Disney World Golf Classic.
He then began a long broadcasting career, working for TBS, NBC Fox Sports South, Sun Sports, The Golf Channel, and then Fox beginning in 2006. He has worked alongside Kevin Burkhardt on Fox's No. 2 NFL team the past three seasons. Davis also works for NFL Network, handling pre-draft commentary and other assignments.
But Fox pursued NFL and former Miami Hurricanes tight end Greg Olsen this past offseason, which might have left Davis' position on the No. 2 team at risk if Olsen hadn't opted to continue playing.
Three years ago, Fox wanted to team Davis with Burkhardt and Jay Cutler, but Cutler quit a month before the season to join the Dolphins after Ryan Tannehill was injured in training camp.
Davis' move leaves Fox scrambling to find a No. 2 NFL game analyst behind Troy Aikman. In-house options include Chris Spielman, Ronde Barber, Mark Schlereth and Daryl Johnston (who previously held the job).
But the No. 2 job is likely to go to Olsen when he retires; Olsen, 35, recently signed with Seattle after parting ways with the Carolina Panthers.
At CBS, Davis will work alongside Eagle, a gig that comes with one or two playoff games every year. On CBS' depth chart, he would be slotted behind only lead analyst Troy Aikman. CBS' other game analysts, in order, are Trent Green, Rich Gannon, James Lofton, Adam Archuleta and Jay Feely.
Davis worked for CBS early this century, spending two years as a sideline reporter on college basketball games.
