Report: ESPN pursuing Michaels, Manning for 'MNF' booth

ESPN wants to pair Al Michaels and Peyton Manning on "Monday Night Football" telecasts, the New York Post reported Thursday.

The Post's Andrew Marchand said ESPN has yet to begin talks with NBC and its parent company, Comcast, in an effort to acquire the right to Michaels' services. The 75-year-old Michaels currently calls Sunday night games with analyst Cris Collinsworth for NBC and is under contract with the network through the 2022 Super Bowl.

"Al is under contract for the foreseeable future," NBC spokesman Greg Hughes told the Post.

Play-by-play man Joe Tessitore and analyst Booger McFarland currently occupy the ESPN booth, but the network reportedly has been seeking an upgrade. Parent company Disney wants to enter the upcoming negotiations for NFL television rights with a big-time broadcast team in place as it seeks to secure a bigger package of games for ESPN and ABC, including a Super Bowl, Marchand said.

ESPN reportedly was interested in CBS analyst Tony Romo, who agreed to a deal last week that Marchand pegged at 10 years for $180 million.

Manning has declined previous inquiries from networks seeking his services, but Marchand said the five-time MVP quarterback might agree to a package deal with Michaels. NBC already has Michaels' successor in-house in Mike Tirico.

Michaels was the play-by-play man for "Monday Night Football" for 20 seasons, beginning in 1986, and worked for ABC for 30 years. He was paired with analysts Frank Gifford, Dan Dierdorf and Dennis Miller before John Madden joined him in 2002.

Before the 2006 season, Madden announced he would join NBC on its Sunday night telecasts and Michaels decided he wanted to follow suit. In exchange for Michaels' services, then-owner NBC Universal gave concessions to Disney and NBC that included rights to coverage of some Ryder Cup rounds and increased use of Olympics highlights.

--Field Level Media