The questions that come in whenever Richard Deitsch announces he is planning to write a mailbag column for The Athletic are always interesting. The most recent column of this nature came out on Monday, and featured a question from a reader that wanted to know what we could expect in the future for FOX NFL Sunday.
A reader named Troy H. took a shot at the show saying that “Howie Long is the only worthwhile one to listen to at this point” and asked Deitsch when he expected the show would make changes.
Richard Deitsch began by pushing back, giving credit in particular to host Curt Menefee. He then noted that FOX NFL Sunday not only remains a success, but it is actually up over last year in the ratings. That means “this group will stay as long as each individual talent wants to stay short of a crazy salary negotiation” according to Deitsch.
He noted that Jimmy Johnson could be the first to leave the show. He is on a year-to-year deal, but FOX is in no hurry to push him out.
What could the future hold? Deitsch writes that FOX executives “seem to be high on Charles Woodson, so keep an eye on him.” He also said that he would not be surprised to see Tampa Bay Buccaneers tight end Rob Gronkowski join the panel in the future.
Woodson is on an interesting career trajectory. After being dropped from ESPN’s Sunday NFL Countdown, he has become a rising star at FOX. The network already uses him for its college football pregame show Big Noon Kickoff. Could that be a holding pen until a spot opens on FOX NFL Sunday or could he go from outcast at ESPN to golden child at FOX, where he would be used on both the top college football and NFL shows?