Former NFL quarterback Boomer Esiason and Phil Simms will no longer co-host “The NFL Today” on CBS.
James Brown, Nate Burleson and Bill Cowher will remain on the show, and will be joined this season by former Atlanta Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan and former Houston Texans defensive end J.J. Watt, according to the New York Post.
Brown, Cowher, Esiason and Simms were all at the end of their current contracts this year, leading many — including the Post — to speculate that changes might be in the wind for the show’s hosting lineup.
Esiason will remain as co-host on WFAN’s morning show, however, and in fact announced on the show that he had signed a long-term contract with the station.
Boomer Esiason announces he is leaving The NFL Today on CBS, but signed an extension to continue his WFAN morning show with Gio pic.twitter.com/91E0OzmGx9
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) April 29, 2024
Sean McManus, who was the CBS Sports chairman who hired Esiason back in 2001, is leaving that position this year, according to the Post.
“The guy who hired me back in 2001 was a guy by the name of Sean McManus, who was the CBS Sports Chairman,” Esiason said. “I never in my wildest dreams it would have lasted 22 years. With all the people that I’ve worked with CBS and the ‘NFL Today’ it’s been an amazing run.”
He added that his leaving was “more their decision than maybe mine,” according to the Post.
Simms, who had been with CBS even longer than Esiason, announced the news of his departure in a post to X.
“Great 26 yrs run with CBS SPORTS,” he wrote.
“Even though that part of my career is over I look forward to what is next,” he added.
Great 26 yrs run with CBS SPORTS. Even though that part of my career is over I look forward to what is next..
— Phil Simms (@PhilSimmsQB) April 29, 2024
Simms told the Post that he wasn’t sure what was next, but that he planned to say around professional football in some capacity.
“I’m never going to get out of it,” he said. “I don’t know what I’ll do if I don’t go back to CBS. But I’m definitely going to continue to work with or in the NFL — somewhere, somehow, whatever it is.
“I’m just not going to go, ‘OK, I’m done. I’m retired,'” Simms added.
Several X users suggested in response to Simms’ post that he and Esiason should launch a podcast together.