Behind the Mic: Dan Orlovsky Joins ESPN’s No. 2 Commentary Team for Monday Night Football; NBC Sports, Drew Brees Agree to Part Ways

Behind the Mic provides a roundup of recent news regarding on-air talent, including new deals, departures, and assignments compiled from press releases and reports around the industry. In this week’s edition, NBC Sports and Drew Brees part ways, ESPN promotes Dan Orlovsky to No. 2 commentary team of Monday Night Football, and ESPN’s Malika Andrews will host the 2022 NBA Draft.

ESPN’s Dan Orlovsky Joins Monday Night Football B Team

According to Andrew Marchand of The New York Post, Dan Orlovsky will join Steve Levy and Louis Riddick Jr. in ESPN’s No. 2 NFL TV booth. Levy and Riddick will call a handful of games this year and around five per season beginning in 2023.  Levy and Riddick also received contract extensions, cementing them on NFL games.

Orlovsky was pursued by Fox Sports, where he would have fronted a five-day-a-week NFL show and done some games on Sundays, though he was not a candidate for the top jobs. Kevin Burkhardt has replaced Joe Buck as Fox’s No. 1 game-caller, while Greg Olsen is the leading candidate to be his partner, with Tom Brady’s arrival as an analyst to be determined.

NBC Parts Ways With Former New Orleans QB Drew Brees

The New York Post‘s Andrew Marchand is also reporting that Drew Brees will no longer be with NBC Sports as a studio and game analyst for the upcoming NFL season. The decision seemed mutual as Brees preferred doing games over the Football Night in America studio show, and NBC didn’t have many NFL games to offer him. NBC soured on Brees’ potential after originally believing he could develop into the heir apparent to Cris Collinsworth on Sunday Night Football games.

ESPN Assigns Malika Andrews to 2022 NBA Draft Hosting Duties

After ESPN announced their plans for coverage of the 2022 NBA Draft, Malika Andrews will be the lead host for the broadcast on ESPN for the first time. She will be joined by analysts Jay Bilas, Bobby Marks, Kendrick Perkins, and Mike Schmitz and insider Adrian Wojnarowski. Andrews replaces Rece Davis, who held the position during the 2021 NBA Draft. As for the ABC broadcast of the first round of the Draft, host Kevin Negandhi will be alongside analysts Chiney Ogwumike, Jalen Rose, and Stephen A. Smith. Reporter Monica McNutt will handle interviews of the draft picks.

Andrews’ work on the NBA side at ESPN has seen a meteoric rise. She served as the sideline reporter for the NBA Finals last July and was named the host of ESPN’s new daily NBA show, NBA Today, in September.