Boomer Esiason stays with WFAN and Audacy but will be leaving CBS' 'The NFL Today'
Boomer Esiason interacts with fans before Super Bowl 58 on Sunday, Feb. 11, 2024, in Las Vegas. Credit: AP/Eric Gay
Boomer Esiason can start sleeping in on Sundays in the fall, but his weekday alarm clock will continue going off early for years to come.
Esiason announced on Monday morning that he is leaving CBS’ “The NFL Today” after 22 years but has signed a contract with Audacy, WFAN’s parent company, to remain on the station’s top-rated morning show.
“I enjoy this more than anything,” he said, then addressed his WFAN colleagues, saying, “So I have extended extensively into the future for you guys.”
Esiason, 63, said his departure from CBS’ pregame show was “more their decision than maybe mine,” but it came as no surprise.
A shake-up — and a youth movement — was expected for the coming season, and it came on Monday with the news that not only Esiason but also Phil Simms, 68, would be leaving the show. Simms joined “The NFL Today” in 2017 after Tony Romo succeeded him in CBS’ No. 1 game booth.
“Great 26 yrs run with CBS Sports,” Simms wrote on his X (Twitter) account. “Even though that part of my career is over I look forward to what is next.”
They will be replaced by Matt Ryan and JJ Watt. Watt, a part-time analyst last year, now will appear more frequently. Those two will join the returning James Brown, Nate Burleson and Bill Cowher.
“Phil and Boomer set the standard of excellence for NFL analysts,” CBS Sports president and CEO David Berson said in a release from the network. “We are so grateful for their immeasurable contributions to CBS Sports. We genuinely thank them for being incredible teammates and for their passion, dedication and commitment to elevating CBS Sports’ NFL coverage every season.”
Esiason saw the writing on the wall entering CBS’ coverage of the Super Bowl in February. “I really thought the Super Bowl was my swan song,” he said.
Esiason said he is “happy to get my weekends back” after four decades associated with the NFL. “I never thought in my wildest dreams I would have lasted for 22 years,” he said. “It’s been an amazing run when you think about the people I’ve worked with.”
Esiason joined WFAN in 2007, paired first with Craig Carton and currently with Gregg Giannotti. The new contract will take him at least through 2027, which will make him the longest-tenured morning host in station history, surpassing the late Don Imus, whom Esiason and Carton replaced.
CBS Sports Network simulcasts the morning program and will continue to do so, Esiason announced. “For the last two months, I’ve been trying to figure out what I wanted to do and where I want to be,” Esiason said. “One of the places I want to be is right here at WFAN, working for Audacy, working for [Audacy New York market president] Chris Oliviero.”
When asked by Newsday in March about Esiason perhaps retiring, Oliviero said, “He’s not retiring. I’m going to go on the record here in Newsday and say, ‘Boomer is not retiring from WFAN.’ I’m not going to allow it.”
Neil Best first worked at Newsday in 1982, returned in 1985 after a detour to Alaska and has been here since, specializing in high schools, college basketball, the NFL and most recently sports media and business.
