Shannon Sharpe Open To ‘Contributor’ Role With ESPN
Shannon Sharpe still hasn’t found a home since leaving Fox Sports. FS1 still hasn’t found a replacement for Shannon as Undisputed will take two months off the air. Are we finally on the verge of getting some kind of resolution months later? It appears that Shannon Sharpe could be headed to ESPN on a part time basis.
There have been rumors of Sharpe heading to ESPN in the past. However, now we have a better idea of what kind of role we might be looking at if that deal gets done.
“Shannon Sharpe has talked to ESPN about becoming a high-profile “contributor,” Front Office Sports has learned.”
“The contributor’s role would enable the former co-host of FS1’s “Skip and Shannon: Undisputed” to join the rotating cast of stars debating Stephen A. Smith on ESPN’s top-rated “First Take.”
It sounds like Stephen A is very in favor of this type of move. Michael Irvin and Chris Russo are two examples of “contributors” that have come on First Take and have that be their only responsibility with the network. This type of move would maintain freedom for Sharpe’s podcast ‘Club Shay Shay’. If Sharpe wants to loan that show to a gambling network like FanDuel or DraftKings, he would have the freedom to do so.
This move is starting to sound more and more like it’s happening despite the massive layoffs at ESPN. It’s pretty sad that so many people are being fired so that they can afford to have someone debate Stephen A, but I guess that’s the sports world that we live in.
