Pat McAfee reveals exciting plans following his move to ESPN - “Trying to make the best possible show”

Pat McAfee has reiterated that he will continue to have complete creative freedom over his eponymous sports talk show even if they will join ESPN.

The former NFL punter and his team will air their daily show this fall after popular shows "Get Up!" and "First Take." They will still broadcast the show on YouTube but on ESPN's channel.

However, Sports Illustrated's Jimmy Traina saw a potential concern because NFL Network's Ian Rapoport is part of McAfee's crew. He had even filled in for the two-time Pro Bowler when his wife, Samantha, gave birth to a baby girl.

It's worth noting, though, that ESPN has its own NFL insider in Adam Schefter. McAfee sees no issues with this setup, as he shared with Traina:

"Ian is a part of our crew. Ian Rapoport has been a part of our crew for a long time.

"I do believe that we will certainly develop a relationship with Schefter as well, and why wouldn't we, especially as a show that covers the NFL as we have. But our people will remain our people. That's kind of how the entire thing is set up."

Andrew Marchand of the New York Post revealed that Pat McAfee signed a five-year, $85 million contract to join ESPN. The show's transfer also means that McAfee will end his partnership with sports betting platform FanDuel.

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Pat McAfee open to welcoming ESPN talent on his show

While Pat McAfee will still call the shots on his show, he has no problem adding talent that ESPN wants to include. The 2014 First Team All-Pro added:

"But we are very open to meeting and mingling and hopefully putting over ESPN talent that they have on the roster. So, we are very excited to build relationships with people in the basketball world, from ESPN, in the baseball world, in the college lacrosse world.

"We're just trying to make the best possible show as we can."

The show covers more bases beyond football. That's why they have also interviewed MLB insider Jeff Passan and NBA insider Shams Charania, among others. McAfee's group also produces "That's Hockey Talk," hosted by Nick Maraldo, Gump Cathcart, and 14-year NHL veteran Mike Rupp.

"The Pat McAfee Show" started in 2016 as a part of Barstool Sports' Heartland division. He departed from Barstool two years later and founded Pat McAfee, Incorporated.

In 2019, DAZN and Westwood One syndicated McAfee's flagship program. They parted ways in August 2020 because of the Federal Communications Commission's regulations. They started airing on Sirius XM's "Mad Dog Sports Radio" a month later but that partnership ended in August 2022.

McAfee hosts the show with Ty Schmit and Boston Connr, who sits at the so-called "Toxic Table." Tone Digz, a part of the sports betting show "Hammer Dahn," also joins the daily program.

Former NFL linebacker A.J. Hawk is also a regular and they have recently added former defensive back Adam "Pacman" Jones to their roster. The three-hour program also gets massive viewership during "Aaron Rodgers Tuesdays," wherein the four-time NFL MVP chimes in on the latest happenings to him.

Aside from his show, Pat McAfee is also a part of ESPN's "College GameDay" broadcasting crew.