CBS has reportedly shown interest in Luke Kuechly for ‘The NFL Today’
CBS is looking to fill the seat Matt Ryan left behind on The NFL Today, and Luke Kuechly is apparently in the mix. According to The Athletic’s Andrew Marchand, CBS is in negotiations with Russell Wilson over a potential role on the network’s NFL pregame show, and Wilson isn’t the only name the network has…
Credit: Kevin Whitlock / Massillon Independent / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images CBS is looking to fill the seat Matt Ryan left behind on The NFL Today , and Luke Kuechly is apparently in the mix. According to The Athletic’s Andrew Marchand , CBS is in negotiations with Russell Wilson over a potential role on the network’s NFL pregame show, and Wilson isn’t the only name the network has reached out to. CBS has also shown interest in Hall of Fame linebacker Luke Kuechly, per Marchand.
Kuechly retired from the Carolina Panthers in January 2020 after eight seasons, seven Pro Bowl selections, and a Defensive Player of the Year award in 2013. He spent his first years out of football working as a pro scout for the Panthers rather than heading straight to television — he chose that scouting role over broadcasting when the offers came — and joined the Panthers radio team in 2022 . Since then, he’s dipped his toes into national work, most notably appearing on ESPN’s MNF Playbook altcast last December, where he absolutely wowed viewers by calling a pick-six before the ball was snapped.
That performance did a lot to reopen the conversation about what Kuechly could be as a television analyst. Ryan’s departure to take a front office job with the Atlanta Falcons left an open seat on The NFL Today , and with Mike Tomlin having signed with NBC , CBS is apparently casting a wide net to fill it. Wilson and Kuechly represent two very different options.
Wilson is the bigger name with the wider audience appeal, but comes with well-documented questions about his authenticity on television. Kuechly is the football nerd’s dream — a defensive genius who showed on the MNF Playbook altcast that he can break down the game at a level most analysts can’t touch — but has been very deliberate about not jumping headfirst into media, spending years in the Panthers’ front office before easing into radio work. Whether Kuechly actually wants a high-profile national studio role is a legitimate question.