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ESPN’s Monday night pregame show will have a new look this season as the network reshapes its NFL coverage. The changes come ahead of a milestone year that will end with ESPN broadcasting its first Super Bowl. Pat McAfee is trading part of his weekday desk for a Monday night one. ESPN announced McAfee is joining Monday Night Countdown as a full-time analyst this season, teaming with Scott Van Pelt, Jason Kelce, Marcus Spears and Jason McCourty ahead of the network’s first Super Bowl broadcast. The move adds another marquee slot to ESPN’s already sprawling footprint and comes as McAfee closes in on a new contract that would make him one of the highest-paid personalities in sports television history. McAfee’s new Monday Night Countdown role McAfee will be a regular part of the two-hour pregame show, joining a desk that also includes Kelce and Spears. Van Pelt continues to host, a role he has held since 2023. McCourty is the other new face on the show, taking the seat vacated by Ryan Clark. He was let go from ESPN this summer during a round of network-wide layoffs. The pregame show airs from 6 to 8 p.m. ET before Monday Night Football and will be simulcast on NFL Network for the first time this season. McAfee’s addition puts him on the desk for every Monday Night Countdown broadcast. Plus the show’s coverage leading into Super Bowl LXI on Feb. 14, ESPN’s first as an NFL rights holder. The four analysts joining McAfee bring a combined 43 NFL seasons, two Super Bowl championships, nine Pro Bowl selections and seven First-Team All-Pro honors between them. McAfee’s Monday routine will run long. He is still expected to host his daily talk show earlier in the day. Then move into studio coverage that stretches into primetime. McAfee’s expanding ESPN duties, pending contract McAfee’s new assignment comes as the network works to finalize a new deal with him. The Athletic’s Andrew Marchand reported in June that ESPN and McAfee were negotiating an extension worth $60 million to $65 million per year, roughly double the $30 million annual value of his current contract, which runs through 2028. The reported figure would come with an expanded role in the network’s NFL coverage, a shift that appears to already be taking shape with his new spot on Monday Night Countdown. The talks have played out against a backdrop of layoffs at ESPN, including Clark’s departure along with cuts to other longtime on-air names. ESPN has said it treats McAfee’s arrangement as a production agreement rather than a standard talent deal, noting the show turns a profit and has posted a 25 percent year-over-year audience increase. McAfee also covers his own production and staffing costs out of his deal. McAfee remains a fixture on College GameDay, a role that began in 2022 and has become one of the show’s biggest draws. He also stepped away from professional wrestling this year. McAfee had vowed on his show that he would leave WWE if Randy Orton lost his match at WrestleMania 42. When Orton fell to Cody Rhodes, McAfee kept his word. “The good news is, the business doesn’t need to be saved after all,” McAfee said on his show. “And good for them. And for me, I finished my story.” — Enjoy free coverage of the top news & trending stories with The Big Lead Newsletter —