The Monday Night Football broadcast booth will have a new look this season. After months of rumors, word came down last week that Joe Tessitore and Booger McFarland are out.
So, who's in?
ESPN swung and missed at a number of big names earlier this offseason, including Tony Romo, who re-signed with CBS, and Peyton Manning. And it whiffed in its attempt to acquire play-by-play man Al Michaels from NBC.
Now the network is reportedly taking a more frugal approach to the search, amid the fallout from the coronavirus. That has a pair of former Lions in the running to replace Booger as color commentator.
Orlovksy, who spent seven seasons in Detroit, is +500 to land the job, according to SportsBetting.ag. That's tied with Riddick and former Seahawks QB and ESPN NFL analyst Matt Hasselbeck for the second best odds, with longtime Dolphins QB and ESPN college football color commentator Brian Griese the favorite at +300.
SportsBetting.ag has another local name to watch: Nate Burleson. The former Lions wide receiver, who's become a popular TV personality on NFL Network and CBS Sports, is +1000 to take over for Booger. That's tied with former Bears QB and reality TV star Jay Cutler for the eighth best odds, and one spot behind McAfee (+900).
Burleson, who also provided color commentary for Lions preseason games in 2015, is a longshot compared to Orlovsky, with ESPN 'looking almost exclusively at its existing talent,' according Front Office Sports.
Other candidates, according to SportsBetting.ag, are Monday Night Football radio analyst Kurt Warner (+600) and ESPN college football analyst Kirk Herbstreit (+700). The site also lists Colin Kaepernick (+5,000) and Antonio Brown (+10,000) as extreme longshots.