Get ready for more Sunday nights with Cris Collinsworth.
NBC is preparing a major contract extension for its “Sunday Night Football” commentator that would see Collinsworth continue calling NFL games through the 2029-30 season. According to The Athletic.
Collinsworth, 65, is set to sign a four-year contract extension that will see him call two more Super Bowls for the network in 2026 and 2030.
According to the report, NBC believes Collinsworth “remains the best in the game” among NFL commentators, and the extension will ensure his place on the network's weekly primetime gamedays.
A contract extension could help close the financial gap between Collinsworth and his industry peers.
Collinsworth's current contract is worth about $12.5 million per year, well below the $37.5 million Tom Brady is making in his new 10-year deal with Fox.
But with CBS' Tony Romo and ESPN's Troy Aikman making $18 million, the deal seems like an extreme outlier.
Collinsworth's current contract runs through the 2026 Super Bowl, but he will reportedly continue to call one of the featured games each week.
The former Bengals star is pairing with Mike Tirico after previously teaming up with Al Michaels, who stepped down from his role to provide commentary for Amazon Prime's “Thursday Night Football.”
Collinsworth is famous Pro Football Focusan analytical soccer website whose rankings are used to introduce the starting line-ups for Sunday night's matches.
The Athletic speculated that if Collinsworth's contract had expired without an extension, coaches such as Fox's Greg Olsen, who was demoted to the second team with Brady's arrival, or the Rams' Sean McVay or the Steelers' Mike Tomlin might have been potential candidates to replace him.
Collinsworth and Tirico will be in front of the microphone this Sunday when the 2-0 Chiefs visit the Falcons (1-1), fresh off a major upset win over the Eagles on “Monday Night Football,” for the first time on the road.
