Drew Brees no longer with ESPN’s ‘First Take’

With Drew Brees joining Fox Sports as a game analyst, the former NFL quarterback will no longer be making weekly appearances on ESPN’s First Take.

Fox officially announced Brees will begin calling games for the network in Week 11, pairing him with Adam Amin and Kristina Pink. Brees fills the void left by Mark Sanchez, who was fired by Fox nearly one month after being arrested and charged with felony battery for a violent altercation with a 69-year-old truck driver in Indianapolis.

Now that his Fox gig is official, ESPN has confirmed to Awful Announcing that Brees will no longer appear on First Take. Brees was announced as a weekly contributor to First Take in late September, joining Stephen A. Smith’s show for a remote segment every Tuesday. And while his tenure with ESPN was brief, it was long enough for Brees to anger Philadelphia Eagles fans.

Brees never seemed like a great fit for First Take. His energy failed to match the rest of the show and its cast. But that didn’t appear to sour Fox on bringing him in as a full-time game analyst.

For Brees, joining Fox marks a return to being a full-time game analyst for the first time since parting ways with NBC after just one season in 2022. With NBC, Brees called Notre Dame games and worked on the Football Night in America studio show although he reportedly sought more opportunities in an NFL booth. Brees was considered the heir apparent to Cris Collinsworth when he joined NBC, but when given the chance to call an NFL playoff game, he flopped badly.

In the years since his mutual exit from NBC, Brees has repeatedly expressed a desire to get back in the booth, touting his potential as an analyst. Now he’ll get to prove it as the No. 3 analyst for Fox behind Tom Brady and Greg Olsen.