Dan Orlovsky’s future with ESPN is in flux. That much we know.
On the other hand, the future of CBS’s college football coverage is more settled. After Gary Danielson announced his retirement after the 2025-26 college football season, the network quickly rolled out a succession plan using internal talent.
Charles Davis will slide into the booth alongside Brad Nessler as Danielson’s replacement. But Davis won’t finish his final NFL season next to Ian Eagle. He’s effectively been bumped from CBS’s No. 2 NFL team, with J.J. Watt taking his place for the 2025 season and beyond.
But that apparently wasn’t CBS’s first choice.
According to The Athletic’s Andrew Marchand, the network aimed higher before promoting from within.
In his report, which revealed that Rece Davis turned down a lucrative offer from Fox Sports to stay at ESPN, Marchand also noted that CBS made a run at another top ESPN talent, Orlovsky.
Orlovsky declined CBS’s overtures, but that doesn’t mean he’s locked in at ESPN. Not yet.
He hinted at an uncertain future during his final appearance of the NFL season. While he’s remained visible across ESPN’s offseason coverage, including free agency and the NFL Draft, Orlovsky still needs a new deal.
We at Awful Announcing recently asked whether ESPN should open the checkbook for the former journeyman quarterback. The answer was a resounding yes because another network would try to pay him. In fact, one already has. CBS made an offer. Orlovsky just happened to say no.
Orlovsky is currently part of ESPN’s No. 2 NFL team and previously spent the fall months calling weekly college football games on ESPN and ABC. So it’s not like he’s unfamiliar with the college game.
But maybe he wasn’t interested in being labeled a college-only guy, especially if that meant walking away from the NFL. That could explain why CBS’s offer didn’t stick. And it probably puts any talk of him replacing Brock Huard in Fox’s No. 2 college booth to rest.
And while Orlovsky may have turned down CBS, that doesn’t mean he’s staying put. He wants NFL reps. He wants visibility. And he wants to get paid.
If ESPN won’t give him all three, someone else will.