How Pat McAfee 'could help Stephen A. Smith land ESPN's first $100million contract'

• e-mail

With contract negotiations ongoing between ESPN and Stephen A. Smith, his conduct during those talks has apparently earned him some brownie points.

Smith's contract is about to expire and the 56-year-old appears insistent that he stays at ESPN for the future.

Sources told FrontOfficeSports that Smith is 'earning plenty of respect from ESPN management for the way he's handling his contract negotiations - as well as his continued willingness to do whatever it takes to keep the four letters on top.'

FOS also pointed out that his team-player approach to these negotiations is different from the antics and hijinks that fellow big-name media personality Pat McAfee occasionally subscribes to.

As an insider told the publication, ' I’ve got to give Stephen A. credit. He’s used that McAfee is such a bad team player to his own advantage. He brings on only ESPN people; McAfee brings on Shams [Charania]. 

Stephen A. Smith could be on track to earning between $20million and $25million a year

Reports indicate that Smith's attitude is one of a 'team player' as opposed to Pat McAfee

'That’s the kind of thing Stephen A. Smith would never do. He lets Pat McAfee frustrate the ESPN executives so much, they’re like, "F*** it. Stephen A. is a good team player."'

Smith could be on track to become the first $100million man at the company - especially considering how many roles he fills as a studio analyst at ESPN.

Considering an especially strong first half of 2024 for the company, and the salaries of his contemporaries ($85million over five years for McAfee, as an example), and that number might not be as unreachable as it sounds.

According to FOS sources, Smith's new compensation 'could eventually come in between $20million and $25million per year over five years.' 

Smith and McAfee appear at times to be polar opposites of each other - even boiling over into a possible beef earlier this year.

FOS sources said 'ESPN brass loves 37-year-old McAfee’s appeal to younger viewers; his performance on College GameDay; and his ability to book A-list guests including Aaron Rodgers, Bill Belichick, Nick Saban, Peyton Manning, and Caitlin Clark.'

But McAfee's tendency to fly off the handle has been an eyesore. He had to apologize for his role in the Aaron Rodgers vs. Jimmy Kimmel feud and again recently for calling Caitlin Clark a 'white b***h'.

He's also publicly gone after ESPN executive Norby Williamson - calling the company veteran a 'rat' trying to 'sabotage' his show back in January of this year. Williamson eventually left the company.