Amazon appears to have found its Thursday Night Football analyst.
According to Peter King of NBC Sports, the streaming service has “settled on” ESPN’s Kirk Herbstreit as color commentator for its Thursday night package.
King noted that Herbstreit will likely still work in his role as a college football analyst and announcer with ESPN while at Amazon.
Herbstreit has been linked as a possible candidate for Amazon ever since Troy Aikman spurned them for ESPN’s Monday Night Football job.
Other names that had been considered included Drew Brees, Sean Payton, John Lynch and Sean McVay. Both Lynch and McVay turned down offers to keep their current jobs as GM and head coach, respectively.
Amazon had been eyeing a potential “dream team” of Al Michaels and Aikman for its Thursday night package, which the streaming service will have exclusive rights for beginning in 2022.
It is still uncertain who will do play-by-play alongside Herbstreit. It has long believed that Michaels, whose contract expired at NBC, was going to get the gig but Aikman choosing ESPN over Amazon has seemingly thrown a wrench into things.
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