Peyton Manning Reportedly Rejects ESPN’s Offer To Join “Monday Night Football”

Andrew Marchand of the New York Post reports that Peyton Manning was once again turned down an opportunity to join ESPN’s “Monday Night Football.”

According to Marchand’s sources, the overriding issue was whether Manning wanted to take a broadcast job and commit to the weekly schedule in the fall.

Reports had said that ESPN was hoping to trade for NBC’s Al Michaels and pair him with Manning, but NBC ultimately balked at the idea of letting go of Michaels.

Marchand says ESPN capped their Tony Romo offer at 10 years, $140 million, but they didn’t even get the opportunity to make him this offer before he agreed to re-sign with CBS for $180 million over 10 years.

Marchand says a realistic range for ESPN’s offer to Manning is $12-$14 million per year.

It remains to be seen what ESPN will do with their “Monday Night Football” booth from here.

However, Marchand mentions that it appears an internal solution could include someone like Kurt Warner. They’ve also discussed the possibility of a team that consists of Steve Levy, Brian Griese and Louis Riddick.

It will be interesting to see if Manning’s name starts coming up more regarding front office positions for NFL teams. 

We’ll have more regarding Manning and ESPN as the news is available.