Traina Thoughts Mailbag: So Many NFL Schedule, Broadcasting Questions

It’s time for another Mailbag edition of Traina Thoughts. Before I get into it, I need to let you know that a brand-new episode of SI Media With Jimmy Traina dropped this morning.

This week’s show features a conversation with The Ringer’s Bryan Curtis about all the latest sports media news.

Topics discussed include: Mike Tirico calling his first Super Bowl for NBC, ratings for the AFC and NFC championship games, Tony Romo backlash, Tom Brady’s improvement as an analyst, the problem with NFL rules analysts, college football’s strong ratings despite being a mess off the field, ESPN’s promotion for next year’s Super Bowl, the state of podcasts, The Washington Post reportedly shutting down its sports section, Radio Row and more.

Following Curtis, SNY's Sal Licata joins me for our weekly “Traina Thoughts” segment. This week, we talked about the fallout from the massive snow storm that hit our areas, whether NFL playoff games should be played at a neutral site, blunders by Sean Payton and Sean McVay, Bill Belichick getting snubbed by the Hall of Fame, the Super Bowl and show recommendations.

You can listen to the SI Media With Jimmy Traina podcast below or on Apple and Spotify.

You can also watch SI Media With Jimmy Traina on YouTube.

On to the questions. We’ll kick things off with a question that came to my email inbox before going to social media questions.

Hi, Jimmy. I’m a big fan of your SI Media Podcast and had a question for you on NFL scheduling. Do you think the NFL would ever consider a mid-season bye week for the entire league? The obvious downside is one less weekend with NFL games, but I’m sure the NFL could come up with some programming to fill the space.

The positive effect would be a full inventory of games every weekend. The league wouldn’t have to worry about 6 teams being on a bye in Week 12, resulting in a horrendous early game window. Or they could more freely move Chiefs-Cowboys/etc. to Thu/Sun/Mon night windows, with less of an effect on the Sunday time window.

I would be curious to hear Mike North/Howard Katz’s thoughts on this as well, if you have them on the podcast again this year to discuss the schedule release. – Kyel Lambert, Seattle, WA

I can’t envision any scenario where this would ever happen simply because the NFL isn’t going to give up a week of revenue. The league wouldn’t want it and even more so, the networks wouldn’t want it. CBS, Fox, ESPN and Amazon pay A LOT of money for the rights to air NFL games. They will not go dark for a week under any circumstances. But I will throw this question out there to Mike North the next time I have him on SI Media With Jimmy Traina.

How can CBS pivot from Nantz/Romo, leaving Nantz on golf and giving him emeritus role for other sports like Jack Whitaker did later in his career, and buy out Romo? They desperately need Ian Eagle and JJ Watt in place for Super Bowl 62....
— HanoverSports (from RVA Sports Network) (@hanoversports) January 29, 2026

CBS can’t pivot from Jim Nantz and Tony Romo. At least it can’t right now. It’s not happening. I wrote a whole column about this two weeks ago.

Predict the lead NFL announce teams for CBS, Fox, ESPN, NBC and Prime 10 years from now (assuming they all keep their rights) …
— Goggles Paisano (@ehannan73) January 29, 2026

This is an impossible thing to predict the way you set it up, but I’ll throw these guesses out there: Ian Eagle will have a lead play-by-play gig and so will his son, Noah. Greg Olsen will be a No. 1 analyst somewhere, as will J.J. Watt and Sean McVay.

What’s the deal with these NFL TV broadcasts going straight to a commercial once a play goes under review? We maybe see one or two replays and then a commercial, and when they get back they’re about to run the next play. We even miss the ref on the field explaining the ruling.
— Samuel Roberts (@robssams9325) January 29, 2026

The deal is that networks care about one thing and one thing only: making money. So anytime a network gets the opportunity to air a commercial, it will air a commercial.

We hate it when they go right to a commercial during replay. And the network may even hate missing the ref on the field giving us an explanation, but we’re not going to stop watching when this happens. The networks have got us by the you-know-whats and they’re going to air as many commercials as they want. We’re just going to take it and they know that.

Clayton Kershaw reportedly is close to joining NBC’s MLB studio coverage. As the network assembles its roster, who are some retired players who currently do not have broadcasting gigs that you’d think would make good studio analysts and fit nicely within the NBC Sports brand?
— Jake Kline (@JakeAKline) January 29, 2026

I’d love to see Joey Votto get a prominent role with any of the networks that carry Major League Baseball. In the old days when it was called Twitter and it was fun, there wasn’t a more entertaining athlete on the platform than pitcher Brandon McCarthy. I’d love to see him on TV.

Jimmy, just listened to the SVP interview. It was terrific. The Diet Coke conversation was great content. Three diet Mountain Dew’s per day for me at least. I think it’s the business that leads us to the disgusting amount of diet sodas. What is your food vice?
— Erik Dobratz (@Erikd25) January 29, 2026

Sadly, I have too many food vices. I wish I didn’t, but I do. Bread and pasta are at the top of the list. If a catastrophe struck earth and all food was wiped out and there was nothing left except bread and butter, I’d be perfectly happy.

What will replace the NFL for you for the next 6 months? You don't have the same passion for college hoops, NBA, or NHL, you told the face of Olympics TV coverage you don't like the Olympics... what's your plan? Reading? Movies? More degenerate gambling? Looking for tips...
— Chris Juzwik (@juz44) January 29, 2026

I will transition now to the NBA and then MLB for sports. I will also catch up on some shows and documentaries. There will be far less gambling. I’d say 95% of my betting is on NFL and college football.

We’ve heard that you won’t be watching the Olympics, but will you be watching the World Baseball Classic?
— Leo (@Leo78080404) January 29, 2026

Not one single pitch.

Honest thoughts on the WWE/ESPN partnership so far?
— RyRy76 (@RyanMichael2244) January 29, 2026

The partnership seems to be going well for WWE because their superstars are all over ESPN shows all the time.

Now for some Instagram questions:

Best player eligible for, but not in the Major League Baseball Hall of Fame? – @amyroanne

Barry Bonds.

Will the NFL ever move the 3 p.m. game of championship Sunday into primetime on Saturday? – @rben408

I don’t see this happening. Sunday late afternoon is a much better spot for viewership than Saturday night. The only way I could see this happening is when the NFL sells these games to a streaming service, if that streaming service wants to put the conference championship game on Saturday night, it’ll be on Saturday night.

What does Super Bowl Sunday look like for you? - @johnmurachanian

Go out to breakfast. Take care of errands, see friends/family, research all props and make my bets, get in front of the TV at around 5 p.m. Watch the game, take notes on the broadcast, go to bed.