Video of Pat McAfee Taunting Ryan Clark Resurfaces Amidst Rumors of $60 Million Salary

Pat McAfee's next raise is reported to cost ESPN more around $60 million a year across both his show, and his other appearances.

Video of Pat McAfee Taunting Ryan Clark Resurfaces Amidst Rumors of $60 Million Salary

Pat McAfee and Ryan Clark (Image via Dov Kleiman/Ari Meirov/X)

After ESPN let go of Ryan Clark, fans felt that the network was laying off those who were taking a significant chunk of their payroll so that it could give the likes of Pat McAfee and Stephen A. Smith significant raises.

The latter inked a new deal that would pay him $100 million over the next five years. The 58-year-old insisted on that number, even though he was aiming for a wee bit higher.

As one of the longest-tenured and most impactful members of their broadcast team, Smith wanted to ensure that his new salary proved his status over McAfee, who was being heralded as the rising superstar.

The former Indianapolis Colts punter was rumored to be in line for a significant raise over his current contract. According to The Athletic, his total payout at ESPN could be in the range of $60 million per year. No wonder fans were blaming him for Ryan Clark’s departure.

There are a lot of things that make up a football game. Tackling, running, passing, kicking, blocking- I’ve done them all. You’ve done what, two out of the seven probably. Who’s more of a football player, Ryan Clark?

Pat McAfee said

This was from their back-and-forth on Pat McAfee‘s show, where Clark claimed that as a punter, the host was a complete football player. This video resurfaced a while after ESPN fired Clark.

It seems McAfee’s fans were trying to remind the former Pittsburgh Steelers safety that their beloved analyst and show host will continue as ESPN’s highest-paid contributor, whereas Clark is now unemployed.

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Pat McAfee addresses claims he was behind Ryan Clark’s departure

These fans voicing their opinions was going to reach Pat McAfee and his crew. That is why, when former pass rusher JJ Watt was on as a guest, he asked the host about it, which led McAfee to say this:

Pat McAfee has made ESPN's College Gameday a success
McAfee has made ESPN’s College Gameday a success (Image via Awful Announcing/X)

We hate any time this happens. Obviously this is terrible. We don’t like that… I feel like you don’t fully understand budgets and where things are coming from, but I do appreciate that. This time, we’re getting blamed as well.

McAfee said

The 39-year-old clarified that this was not the first time he and his show have been blamed. When the show was first licensed to ESPN, the network had laid some people off, and they were blamed for it.

This time, the situation has repeated on the back of news that he is getting a significant raise. McAfee reminded viewers that blaming him is easy for those who do not know how corporate budgets work.

He was essentially trying to suggest that Ryan Clark losing his job had nothing to do with his raise. Rather, it was something that came about after ESPN paid $3 billion to acquire NFL Network.

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JJ Watt jokes about Pat McAfee receiving a $100 million contract

Pat McAfee defended himself and his show after JJ Watt was constantly joking around that the dismissals were partly due to the former Colts punter. The former Texans star even went as far as to suggest that McAfee was going to get $100 million a year.

So slow news day over there on the ESPN airwaves, huh… Besides the fact that you’re getting $100 million per year… You are ticking everybody off on the network… They keep anybody, or is everybody fired to pay you?

JJ Watt said

Watt did not just pull that out of thin air, as The Athletic reported that McAfee’s agents started the negotiations with ESPN at $100 million a year. But after some back-and-forth, the number came down to $60-65 million.

The father of two was essentially trying to bat down any suggestions of those numbers, as he knows it will do nothing but bring some backlash after these dismissals.

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