Good for Al Michaels: TRAINA THOUGHTS

After getting pushed out by NBC, 77-year-old Al Michaels gets a big payday.

1. Amazon was determined to put together an A-list booth for Thursday Night Football and it appears it has succeeded.

The New York Post’s Andrew Marchand reports that Amazon is ready to lock up Al Michaels for three years at $10 million per year to call all 16 of their games beginning this season.

There was talk of Al Michaels' possibly just doing 11 of the 16 Amazon games, which is where the $30 million range contract talk came from. He is now doing all 16, if deal goes through with Amazon. So that total salary number maybe headed even further north. #DoYouBelieveInMoney

— Andrew Marchand (@AndrewMarchand) March 15, 2022

Michaels will work with ESPN’s Kirk Herbstreit, who is adding the NFL to his college football duties.

While most sports fans (and many people) can’t get over the astronomical salaries for NFL broadcasters, I say good for Michaels.

Here’s a man who was still at the top of his craft calling Sunday Night Football, and got pushed out by NBC. The network has had Mike Tirico, who is an excellent play-by-play man, waiting in the wings for several years to take over for Michaels. With Michaels’s contract up after this past season, this was the time for NBC to make the switch.

I firmly believe NBC moved on from Michaels because of his age. It would’ve been very easy for Michaels to hang it up after calling this year’s Bengals-Rams Super Bowl, so for Michaels to land that kind of deal at 77 years old is impressive and speaks to the high quality he still brings to each broadcast.

Amazon wanted credibility and it has gotten that with Michaels and Herbstreit.

2. Aaron Rodgers showed us once again that he loves a little word play.

You'll recall on March 8, the NFL Network's Ian Rapoport sent this tweet.

The #Packers and MVP QB Aaron Rodgers have agreed to terms on a 4-year, $200M deal that makes him the highest paid player in NFL history, sources say. He gets a whopping $153M guaranteed and his cap number goes down. A monstrous commitment by GB for years to come. 💰 💰 💰

— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) March 8, 2022

Later that day, Rodgers sent out a tweet that was intended to cast doubt on the Rapoport report.

Hey everyone, just wanted to clear some things up; YES I will be playing with the @packers next year, however, reports about me signing a contract are inaccurate, as are the supposed terms of the contract I “signed”. I’m very excited to be back 💪🏼 #year18❤️

— Aaron Rodgers (@AaronRodgers12) March 8, 2022

Cut to Tuesday morning and Rodgers finally "signing" his new deal, which was for $186 million instead of the $200 million Rapoport reported. Oh, and Rapoport also got the guaranteed money right.

So in the end… it’s a 5 year, $186M deal for Aaron Rodgers.

Last 2 years Placeholders**

$150M’s GUARANTEED@RapSheet’s sources/original report of 4 year $200M deal were certainly CLOSE

With that being said…Cap Friendly deal with Aaron getting paid.. WIN-WIN for every1 pic.twitter.com/2t1zFDyiAO

— Pat McAfee (@PatMcAfeeShow) March 15, 2022

3. Eagles offensive lineman, Jason Kelce, sang the national anthem before last night’s Nuggets-Sixers game and it was awesome.

Jason Kelce is a national treasure. pic.twitter.com/8PbdhsokPw

— NBC Sports Philadelphia (@NBCSPhilly) March 14, 2022

4. I'm praying this is real.

Mike Tyson’s weed company is making edibles in the shape of an ear. Genius pic.twitter.com/VOU3uAMzOf

— Greg Baroth (@gbaroth) March 14, 2022

5. Good read here for my fellow degenerates on some fishy betting activity going on with Tampa Bay Buccaneers futures before Tom Brady announced he was coming back.

Las Vegas sportsbooks saw unexpected big bets on Tampa Bay Buccaneers to win Super Bowl ahead of ... - via @ESPN App https://t.co/igHWcni1ft

— David Payne Purdum (@DavidPurdum) March 14, 2022

6. The latest SI Media Podcast features two interviews. First up is Chris “Mad Dog” Russo from SiriusXM and First Take. Russo talks about how his weekly gig with Stephen A. Smith came about, his reaction to the overwhelming positive reviews, the bond New Yorkers have with the old Mike and the Mad Dog show and much more.

Following Russo, Mike Florio from ProFootballTalk joins the SI Media Podcast to talk about the latest NFL news.

The podcast wraps up with the weekly “Traina Thoughts” segment. This week, Sal Licata, from WFAN and SNY TV, fight about the Calvin Ridley suspension.

You can listen to the podcast below or download it on Apple, Spotify and Stitcher.

You can also watch the SI Media Podcast on YouTube.

7. RANDOM VIDEO OF THE DAY: I'm a sucker for these videos that people make imagining what an episode of Seinfeld would look like today. 

Be sure to catch up on past editions of Traina Thoughts and check out the Sports Illustrated Media Podcast hosted by Jimmy Traina on Apple, Spotify or Stitcher. You can also follow Jimmy on Twitter and Instagram.