Odds to Be Color Commentator for Monday Night Football in 2020: Romo Favored, McAfee Listed at +450

• Online betting sites are offering a prop wager on who will be announcing Monday Night Football for ESPN next season
• Former Dallas Cowboys QB and current CBS analyst Tony Romo is the +200 favorite to join the MNF broadcast booth
• Two-time Super Bowl-winning QB Peyton Manning is at +400 odds

It’s so obvious that Monday Night Football is in trouble that even Booger McFarland can figure it out.

MNF analyst McFarland’s overabundance at stating the obvious is among many blights that were evident in this once-iconic franchise. At one time appointment television, MNF is now a laughingstock, best viewed with the mute button activated.

Change isn’t only necessary, it should be mandatory. Not surprisingly, sportsbooks have put out prop wagers on who might join the ESPN Monday Night Football booth next fall.

Tony Romo, lead NFL analyst for CBS, is the +200 chalk.

Odds on Monday Night Football Announcer for Game 1, 2020

Odds taken Jan. 8th. Note: Play-by-play announcer or color commentator counts toward wager.

Peyton Manning, a two-time Super Bowl winner, is the +400 second-favorite.

Monday Has Never Been The Same

This isn’t the first time that Monday Night Football has gotten it wrong. But when last season’s Jason Witten experiment mercifully ended after Witten decided to return from a one-year retirement to play for the Dallas Cowboys, ESPN doubled down on bad takes. They moved sideline reporter Booger McFarland into the booth alongside Joe Tessitore.

https://twitter.com/bfizzlere/status/1213584976077344768?s=20

It created a combo that worked about as well as peanut butter and mayonnaise. McFarland’s analysis included such gems as noting that if Lamar Jackson wanted to be the NFL’s MVP, he’d need to show that he was more valuable than Patrick Mahomes.

Tessitore’s play-by-play calls were reminiscent of people on social media who type in all caps. His high-decibel play-calling made it impossible to decipher key moments in the game from run of the mill plays.

One Twitter user called this pairing a real-life version of Cotton McKnight and Pepper Brooks, the ESPN 8 The Ocho announcing team portrayed by Gary Cole and Jason Bateman in the film Dodgeball.

Hey, wait a minute … are those guys available?

Romo About to Break the Bank

Whether he’s coming or going, Romo is about to get paid.

In the final year of a deal with CBS that pays him $3 million a year, Romo might be the most coveted NFL free agent this offseason. The New York Post is reporting that ESPN is prepared to offer Romo a six-year deal to replace McFarland valued at $10 million a year.

I’ve written for a year that ESPN will go hard after free agent Tony Romo. https://t.co/E1E5XrwIV3

— Andrew Marchand (@AndrewMarchand) January 5, 2020

Clearly the best analyst working the game today, CBS will fight hard to keep its #1 team of Jim Nantz and Romo together.

How Good Is Manning Unscripted?

ESPN went after Manning a year ago to replace Witten but couldn’t convince him.

There’s no debating that Manning’s ads, his appearances on Saturday Night Live, and his promo spots are spot on. They’re brilliant but they’re also scripted and rehearsed.

Game analysts mustly instantly break down a play and they must do so from a variety of viewpoints in a matter of seconds.

Manning’s never done that in a broadcast booth, so no one can say for sure how well he’d do.

Monday Night Football Needs Romo

There are other realistic candidates tht ESPN could turn to. Dan Orlovsky’s ability to break down a game is stellar. Pat McAfee is a wild card but failed an audition for the spot last year. And remember, a year ago at this time, McFarland wasn’t even on the radar as a candidate.

CGI Don Meredith and a real Tony Romo…make it happen, we have the technology

— PiratesNation (@t_webb_) January 8, 2020

When MNF was must-see TV, one of the stars of the show was former Cowboys QB Don Meredith. If they want to regain that level of iconic status, Romo is the guy they must get.

Pick: Tony Romo (+200).

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