Less than a month after announcing his retirement, Jason Kelce is a prized free agent all over again.
Kelce, 36, is being pursued to cohost Monday Night Football’s pregame show, Us Weekly can confirm. The Athletic was first to report the news.
In addition, The Athletic reported that CBS, NBC and Prime Video — the home of Thursday Night Football — are also after the recently-retired Eagles star.
Kelce’s inevitable acquisition is described as the “linchpin” of the broadcasting offseason, according to The Athletic, with networks waiting to see where Kelce lands before finalizing their plans for next season.
If hired by ESPN, Kelce would effectively take the place of former NFL quarterback and Heisman Trophy winner Robert Griffin III on Monday Night Countdown, according to The Athletic.
Monday Night Countdown analysts Marcus Spears and Ryan Clark, as well as host Scott Van Pelt, are all expected back.
The preGame show’s duties are split between ESPN headquarters in Bristol, Connnecticut, and on-site requirements for a handful of Games throughout the season. Bristol is roughly 200 miles from Philadelphia, where Kelce, wife Kylie Kelce and their three daughters continue to make their home.
Wherever Kelce ends up, the “New Heights” cohost took some preemptive steps to get himself ready for a TV gig last year.
Kelce was one of 25 current or former players to attend the NFL’s Broadcasting and Media Workshop in April 2023. The three-day program allowed players to call Games on radio and television, as well as spend time practicing being a studio analyst.
“This is all new territory for me. I have even more respect for it now,” Kelce told the Associated Press about the experience. “It’s very hard to do something live, reactive of stimulus that just happened and having something clever and meaningful to say.”
Kelce admitted there was one part of the process that proved to be more difficult than he imagined: remembering all of the players’ names.
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Kelce isn’t the only future NFL Hall of Famer prepping for a new chapter in the broadcasting world, as Tom Brady is set to join Fox as a color commentator this fall, a deal the seven-time Super Bowl champion signed for a total of $375 million.
In the meantime, Jason can be heard every Wednesday on “New Heights,” the podcast he hosts with his brother, Travis Kelce.
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