Sources: Cris Collinsworth will stay with NBC until the end of the decade and could commentate on two more Super Bowls

NBC Sports is working on a deal that will keep Cris Collinsworth as its lead NFL game analyst through the end of the decade, enabling him to commentate on two more Super Bowls, sources briefed on the talks said. The athlete.

If the agreement goes through as expected, Collinsworth, 65, will join Mike Tirico in analysing primetime games on NBC's “Sunday Night Football” through the 2029-2030 season. Collinsworth currently makes around $12.5 million per year, according to sources with knowledge of his contract. The new deal is expected to run for four years.

NBC declined to comment.

Collinsworth has proven he has staying power in his more than three decades in the booth. When NBC brought in Drew Brees as a game analyst for Notre Dame and for its NFL studio in 2021-22, Brees was seen as a potential successor to Collinsworth with the prospect of taking over after NBC's Super Bowl in early 2026. Instead, Brees floundered after one year at NBC and never recovered from a bad playoff game he worked with Tirico. Brees has publicly expressed a desire to give broadcasting another try.

NBC implemented a succession plan in which Tirico replaced Al Michaels for the 2022-23 season. Michaels was eventually sent to Amazon Prime Video as a live commentator on “Thursday Night Football.”

For NBC, this means that the company may be able to retain the analyst it believes is still the best in the business. The transfer fee will probably still be hefty, but still lower than the $37.5 million Fox pays Tom Brady annually and the $18 million CBS and ESPN pay Tony Romo and Troy Aikman per season.

If NBC decided to make a change after the next Super Bowl in 2026 (which is covered by Collinsworth's current contract), it could have looked to Fox Sports' No. 2 Greg Olsen or coaches like Sean McVay or Mike Tomlin if they wanted to step away from the sidelines.

Olsen, 39, has already commentated on a Super Bowl but had to move to the No. 2 position at Fox, where he accepted a pay cut from $10 million a year as No. 1 to around $3 million as No. 2. Olsen has a clause in his contract that allows him to leave if a No. 1 position becomes available. He is also expected to succeed Brady if he does not commentate on games for the full 10 years of his contract.

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