$3 Million for Tiki Barber Means Sterling Sharpe Is Out at NBC

Tiki Barber now works for both NBC News and NBC Sports, and two interesting details have come out, courtesy of the Chicago Tribune. First, Barber's salary will be in the $2.5 million to $3 million range. That means, when you combine the lost Giants salary with the endorsements he'll have to turn down to work for NBC News, he's going to lose somewhere in the neighborhood of $4 million by choosing to leave football. Obviously, a guy who has already made well over $10 million in his career isn't exactly hurting by taking a job that pays "only" $3 million, but that's still a choice a lot of athletes wouldn't have made.

The other piece of news is that with Barber joining NBC's football coverage, Sterling Sharpe is now out of a job. That makes sense; Football Night in America was already a ridiculously crowded set, with Bob Costas, Peter King, Jerome Bettis and Cris Collinsworth on board alongside Sharpe.

But while I realize I'm in the minority here, I'll miss Sharpe's analysis. I think he's quite insightful, especially when analyzing wide receivers. He was one of the first to point out, a few years ago, that Randy Moss relied solely on his athleticism to make big plays, didn't try when he wasn't the first option, and didn't run crisp routes. I'm hoping another network picks him up. ESPN, could I persuade you to put Sharpe in Michael Irvin's chair? Please?