Kirk Herbstreit is staying in Amazon Prime Video’s “Thursday Night Football” booth beyond the 2026 season, but the deal reportedly leaves the network room to pivot if a bigger splash comes along.
According to Andrew Marchand of The Athletic, Amazon Prime Video and Herbstreit have reached an extension that keeps the longtime college football analyst on the NFL package past 2026. The wrinkle is in the structure: Amazon reportedly built in flexibility to chase another option down the line.
One name tied to that possibility is Sean McVay. Marchand reports that Amazon went after the Los Angeles Rams head coach in early 2022 after he guided the Rams to a Super Bowl win. McVay passed on the chance, with the offer reportedly worth about $20 million a year, and stayed in Los Angeles.
That door seemed to swing a little more open the next year. After a disappointing Rams season, McVay was reportedly interested in television work, but Amazon had already settled on Herbstreit as its lead analyst.
Now, with this new agreement, Amazon reportedly has the ability to revisit that kind of move if McVay or another appealing candidate becomes available.
Herbstreit’s own situation is not exactly settled, either. He is also heading into the final year of his contract with ESPN, where he remains a major presence on “College GameDay.”
That creates a handful of possible paths for 2027. Herbstreit could stay on as a full-time NFL voice for Amazon, keep leaning into college football, split duties between the two, or move away from one or both networks.
Amazon, meanwhile, could explore other high-profile names if it decides to make a change. Among the analysts reportedly considered are Travis Kelce, Troy Aikman and Greg Olsen, plus other options who would not need to juggle both pro and college football.
For now, Herbstreit is set to keep calling “Thursday Night Football.” But the reported flexibility in the deal means Amazon’s booth could look a lot different when the 2027 NFL season gets here.
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Voting runs through October 9, with fan ballots accounting for half of the outcome and a panel of media, former players and officials handling the rest. McGonigle and Dingler appear to have the cleanest cases after the seasons they put together and their All-Star recognition, while Greene's bid comes with a different kind of debate after injuries cut into his playing time and made his candidacy a tougher one to judge. [Read more 🡒]
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Kevin McGonigle Just Got Dragged Into A Debate Tigers Fans Hate
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So it was probably inevitable that the debate machine would spin up around him anyway. Former utility man Jeff Frye took aim at WAR as a way to measure McGonigle, and Tigers fans reacted quickly, partly because the argument feels like a familiar one and partly because McGonigles first season has been strong enough to make any dismissive take sound risky. The comparison between McGonigles rookie line and Fryes career numbers only sharpened the point, leaving the broader discussion less about whether the Tigers have a standout young player and more about which lens people want to use to appreciate him. [Read more 🡒]