Prepare to spend more Sunday nights with Cris Collinsworth.
NBC is preparing a mega extension for the “Sunday Night Football” analyst that would keep Collinsworth calling NFL games through the 2029-30 season, according to The Athletic.
Collinsworth, 65, is expected to sign a four-year extension that will allow him to call two more Super Bowls for the network in 2026 and 2030.
NBC believes Collinsworth “is still the best in the game” among NFL analysts, per the report, and this extension will secure his spot for the outlet’s weekly primetime game.
An extension could potentially help Collinsworth close the financial gap between him and his industry counterparts.
Collinsworth’s current deal is worth around $12.5 million per year which falls well short of the $37.5 million Tom Brady is earning in his new 10-year deal with Fox.
That contract, though, seems like an extreme outlier since CBS’ Tony Romo and ESPN’s Troy Aikman earn $18 million.
Collinsworth’s current deal runs through the 2026 Super Bowl, per the report, but he will now continue to call one of the marquee games of the week each week.
The former Bengals star works alongside Mike Tirico after previously pairing with Al Michaels, who left his role to call “Thursday Night Football” for Amazon Prime.
Collinsworth famously is an owner of Pro Football Focus, the analytical football website whose rankings are used when introducing the starting lineups during the Sunday night games.
The Athletic speculated that Fox’s Greg Olsen, who was demoted to the No. 2 team upon Brady’s arrival, or coaches such as the Rams’ Sean McVay or the Steelers’ Mike Tomlin could have been future potential replacements had Collinsworth’s deal ended without an extension.
Collinsworth and Tirico will be behind the mic this Sunday when the 2-0 Chiefs hit the road for the first time to visit the Falcons (1-1) fresh off their upset “Monday Night Football” win over the Eagles.
