Former Cowboys HC Jason Garrett officially replacing Drew Brees at NBC

It has been quite the “offseason” for the NFL broadcasting landscape. Joe Buck and Troy Aikman are out at FOX after over 20 years to take over ESPN’s newly revamped “Monday Night Football” coverage. Al Michaels is leaving NBC to do “Thursday Night Football” with Amazon. Sean Payton retired from coaching to join FOX as an analyst. And now, former Dallas Cowboys head coach Jason Garrett will take over Drew Brees’ role at NBC.

There have been swirling rumors that Brees was leaving the network, but he never fully confirmed whether he was leaving or not. The last time people heard from Brees before this week, he said he wasn’t sure if he wanted to stay in broadcasting, spend time with his family, or focus on pickleball.

However, the network confirmed Garrett’s new role on Tuesday, and NBC Sports chairman Pete Bevacqua said Brees’ exit was because the former quarterback wanted to spend more time with his family.

With the switch, Garrett will now take over as an analyst on “Football Night in America” alongside Tony Dungy, Chris Simms, and Maria Taylor. This move comes just a few months after the former coach made his broadcasting debut working with NBC’s Jac Collinsworth as a game analyst for the USFL.

Why does NBC want Garrett? The 56-year-old has ten seasons of head coaching experience with the Cowboys, where he led Dallas to three playoff appearances (although he never made it past a divisional round). He also spent almost two tumultuous seasons with the Giants before trying his hand at broadcasting. Plus, they clearly liked his work with their USFL games.

Former Cowboys HC Jason Garrett to replace Drew Brees on NBC’s “Football Night in America”

Brees was also responsible for being a part of NBC’s coverage of Notre Dame football. While it is possible that Garrett could do those games as well, nothing about the Notre Dame role was confirmed at the time of writing.

Garrett certainly has massive shoes to fill. Brees is one of the most well-liked football players in the world, and let’s just say Cowboys and Giants fans aren’t as in love with how Garrett performed as a coach. Regardless, the former coach seems grateful and excited about the opportunity:

"“I’m truly humbled and thrilled to be joining the Football Night team and continuing my broadcasting career with NBC Sports, who have been fantastic to work with on the USFL.I intend to share my life-long passion for football and utilize my experience as both an NFL coach and quarterback to try to explain the game and break down the matchups for our audience every Sunday night. I can’t wait to get started.”"

Ironically, the Cowboys will face the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on NBC for Sunday Night Football in Week 1 of the 2022 season, which means Garrett will likely be asked a lot of questions by his fellow broadcasters.