Why deal with the stress of coaching an NFL team when you could get paid triple to talk about the sport instead? That's a question tons of NFL coaches and executives have been pondering, as television analyst salaries continue to skyrocket. The inflated salaries of broadcasters has drastically altered the employment landscape of the sport, while reshaping how fans view football.
Without a doubt, Troy Aikman has proven his worth as the lead game analyst for Fox Sports, and deserved a hefty payday elsewhere. But his reported $18 million is a lot of money to talk about the game and explain X's and O's to the national audience. Maybe armchair quarterbacks don't have the same level of credibility to call games on TV, but this is sports TV -- not a Hollywood movie.
Fresh off a Super Bowl 56 victory, Amazon tried to pry Los Angeles Rams head coach Sean McVay away from the sideline, while San Francisco 49ers general manager John Lynch is also considering a return to the booth.
While a flashy name, McVay has never broadcasted a game. And Lynch is six years removed from his stint with Fox. The sad reality of professional sports is that broadcaster salaries are rising, and the sports organizations that employ marquee talent are having trouble keeping up with the networks that cover them. Rising viewership, potential cross competition for formerly exclusive broadcasts -- the Manningcast with ESPN -- and negotiation leverage with advertisers have all contributed to pay inflation for network employees.
It may sound obscene that those involved in telecasts are making more than most of the players participating in the actual game. But by any metric, the phenomenon makes sense. By comparison, networks are getting a bargain, when considering the profitability of specific TV packages. If networks make hundreds of millions of dollars from a broadcast over the course of a season, they're getting a bargain paying their top talent around $20 million.
With more outlets, such as Amazon, wanting skin in the broadcasting game, it'd be unfair to blame outlets for trying to stay ahead of their competitors. Each network is trying to one-up each other by getting a brand name that puts them above and ahead of the rest of the pack.
Regardless, the numbers are frustrating for the majority of fans who make an incomparable salary, as well as others at the networks who earn a lot less. In the sports media industry, where average salaries are typically lower, most could only dream of attaining an eight-figure annual paycheck. Therefore, it's expected that Aikman's new co-workers will double-take when he's walking down the hallway, and gossip about perceived unfairness behind his back.
Despite the questionable reasoning behind massive salaries, the logic behind coaches ditching headsets for microphones makes complete sense. Salaries are higher, job security is better, and you don't have to deal with the day-to-day complications of managing a team and everyone involved with it.
NFL coaches are only as good as their last game, and can go from rags to riches rather quickly if things start to go downhill. Just ask Doug Pederson, who was fired by the Philadelphia Eagles just two seasons after winning the Super Bowl. It took Pederson a year to find another head coaching job, and one can only wonder if he would've ridden a golden chariot to the TV booth had salaries been as inflated then as they are now.
Barring a catastrophic on-air blunder, bad personal matter outside of work, or massive drop-off in ratings, most analysts enjoy pretty good job protection. They're also much better positioned to receive a pay raise or promotion if everything goes well. That's a far cry from receiving less money to manage all 53 players on an active NFL roster, plus the coaching staff. And coaches need to report to an often egotistical owner, as opposed to a network head making far less money. The combination of less responsibility and pressure instantly makes broadcasting more desirable.
Broadcasting games in the NFL is increasingly becoming a much better deal than coaching them. With the current trend here to stay, it's expected that more big names opt to live in the endzone, instead of scouring play sheets trying to get a first down.
Jack Stern is a columnist and an associate producer for CBS Sports Radio. You can follow him on Twitter @J_Stern97.