Joel Klatt has likely worked his final NFL Draft for NFL Network.
With the ESPN-NFL Network merger now complete, Klatt recently told Kay Adams on Up & Adams that he’s under the impression Fox Sports won’t let him work for ESPN in any capacity, which would end the informal arrangement that had placed him alongside Rich Eisen, Daniel Jeremiah, and Charles Davis on NFL Network’s draft main set since 2021.
“I guess no one can predict the future,” Klatt said. “But with the merger, my place isn’t going to let me work for ESPN. And I doubt ESPN would want someone so prevalent on Fox. I’m loaned out. I’m a loaner. They loan me out for the lone weekend on the draft. I don’t know, maybe I’ll take my show and cover it as my show. We’ll see what happens.
“I love working the draft. Mostly because I really enjoy working with DJ and CD and Rich. We have such a great time. I’ll definitely miss it, but at the same time, it is the way the world turns. I was at one point a minor league baseball player and left that, and then ended my football career. I learned a long time ago that you don’t get too caught up and nostalgic about things because they will change.”
ESPN formally acquired NFL Network on April 1 as part of a deal that gave the Worldwide Leader ownership of NFL Network, and linear distribution rights to RedZone, with the NFL receiving a 10 percent equity stake in ESPN in return. NFL Network employees became ESPN employees that same day. The 2026 draft was the first produced under ESPN’s ownership, and Kyle Brandt’s appearance on the ESPN broadcast alongside Rece Davis and Mel Kiper Jr. on day three offered the first glimpse of what cross-network integration might look like going forward.
Klatt, under contract with Fox, doesn’t appear likely to cross that line, and the same question remains to be seen with CBS Sports analyst Charles Davis, who is set to become the network’s lead college football analyst alongside Brad Nessler following Gary Danielson’s retirement.
As we noted in March, NFL Network will continue to produce a separate draft broadcast under ESPN ownership — one of four distinct telecasts ESPN platforms aired this year — alongside Mike Greenberg’s traditional ESPN broadcast, the College GameDay crew on ABC, and Pat McAfee’s Draft Spectacular for the third consecutive year.
Eisen, who has hosted NFL Network’s draft coverage for nearly 20 years, is expected to remain as host.
About Sam Neumann
Since the beginning of 2023, Sam has been a staff writer for Awful Announcing and The Comeback. A 2021 graduate of Temple University, Sam is a Charlotte native, who currently calls Greenville, South Carolina his home. He also has a love/hate relationship with the New York Mets and Jets.