Pat McAfee comments on his WWE future after reportedly signing with ESPN for $85 million

Former WWE SmackDown commentator Pat McAfee has reportedly signed a five year deal with ESPN for around 85 million dollars. The Pat McAfee Show will be moving to the ESPN platform later this year as part of the deal.

Given the money involved, and the fact that McAfee’s previous work on ESPN College GameDay largely kept him away from WWE, it’s easy to assume we won’t be seeing much of McAfee on WWE programming going forward, aside from an occasional WrestleMania cameo.

However, during an interview on SI Media with Jimmy Traina, Pat made it clear that he loves WWE and is trying to figure out a way to get back onto its programming:

My relationship with the WWE is, I don’t want to say stronger than it’s ever been, but actually stronger than it’s ever been. And we are all very much talking about how I get back into the universe, because I love it.

We talked about this earlier. I love it. I think I’m good at it. I think I’m supposed to be in there. I understand why people are doing things. I think that’s why commentating was a good spot for me alongside Michael Cole, the greatest of all time.

Getting to get stunned by Stone Cold Steve [Austin], I lived out like dream after dream after dream over there. I love that place. Our relationship’s very strong. So...I think we’re working. We’re all trying to figure it out.

It might not be easy to figure out how to make it work, but McAfee’s response at least provides a strong sense of optimism regarding his relationship with WWE going forward.

What do you think Pat McAfee’s WWE future looks like, Cagesiders?