{"id":950629,"date":"2026-07-21T23:21:17","date_gmt":"2026-07-21T23:21:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/950629\/"},"modified":"2026-07-21T23:21:17","modified_gmt":"2026-07-21T23:21:17","slug":"pat-mcafee-pushes-back-on-critics-that-hes-to-blame-for-espn-layoffs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/950629\/","title":{"rendered":"Pat McAfee pushes back on critics that he’s to blame for ESPN layoffs"},"content":{"rendered":"

Pat McAfee has faced some heat in the wake of ESPN\u2019s mass layoffs \u2014 and he\u2019s not going quiet about it.<\/p>\n

Despite reportedly being in talks with ESPN on a new contract worth up to $65 million annually<\/a>, McAfee said Tuesday that his eponymous show often gets blamed for the network\u2019s layoffs \u2014 including this week\u2019s round of layoffs that included ex-NFL stars Ryan Clark<\/a> and Cam Newton and mainstay Karl Ravech.\u00a0<\/p>\n

McAfee responded to his show getting criticism for the layoffs, and briefly discussed his thoughts on those who were laid off this week.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"PatPat McAfee on \u201cThe Pat McAfee Show.\u201d <\/p>\n

\u201cWe hate any time this happens. Obviously this is terrible. We don\u2019t like that,\u201d McAfee said Tuesday<\/a>. \u201cBut we are very honored that we are still partnered with ESPN and Disney for the good of sport and the future.\u201d<\/p>\n

While some believe that licensing fee for \u201cThe Pat McAfee Show\u201d comes at the expense of others, the former NFL punter downplayed that narrative.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThe first time we licensed the show through ESPN, one of these happened, we got blamed,\u201d McAfee said.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

\u201cOK, OK. Thank you. I feel like you don\u2019t fully understand budgets and where things are coming from, but I do appreciate that. This time, we\u2019re getting blamed as well. Which I guess I can understand, but I mean, there\u2019s billions and billions of dollars in these companies, and hard decisions have to get made. <\/p>\n

\u201cAnd we don\u2019t like any of them, and we hope we\u2019re an asset to the company going forward.\u201d<\/p>\n

During an interview on McAfee\u2019s show Tuesday<\/a>, former NFL superstar J.J. Watt even took a shot at McAfee\u2019s proposed salary amid ESPN\u2019s layoffs.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"FormerFormer NFL great and Minority team owner of the Burnley FC J. J. Watt watches his team take the field for warm-up before their International Friendly match against Real Salt Lake at America First Field on July 15, 2026 in Sandy, Utah. Getty Images<\/p>\n

\u201cSlow, slow news day over there on the ESPN airwaves, huh?\u201d Watt said, according to the Daily Mail<\/a>. \u201cI mean, besides the fact that you\u2019re getting $100 million\u2026 Did they keep anybody? Or is everybody fired to pay you? I\u2019m trying to figure that out.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

McAfee wasn\u2019t fond of Watt\u2019s comments.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWe do not appreciate that,\u201d McAfee replied. \u201cThat is the narrative, and I\u2019m certainly taking it on the shins. <\/p>\n

\u201cThe boys and I are very proud of the work that we have done. Thanks.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Pat McAfee has faced some heat in the wake of ESPN\u2019s mass layoffs \u2014 and he\u2019s not going…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":950630,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[30],"tags":[171,5723,155339,1232,12944,62,1486,3581,173,67,132,68],"class_list":["post-950629","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tv","tag-entertainment","tag-espn","tag-jj-watt","tag-nfl","tag-pat-mcafee","tag-sports","tag-sports-entertainment","tag-sports-media","tag-tv","tag-united-states","tag-unitedstates","tag-us"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/950629","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=950629"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/950629\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/950630"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=950629"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=950629"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=950629"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}