ESPN's Jon Gruden seems to be personable and I like him

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Who is ESPN's Highest Paid Employee?   Answer: Jon Gruden $6.5 Million per year.

That might not have been my first guess, or a lot of other people’s, but it makes perfect sense. Gruden is the star of ESPN’s biggest property in Monday Night Football. Biggest show equals biggest money and $6.5 million is big, big money.

Is the Super Bowl-winning coach worth that reported salary though? It’s such a nebulous question. If that’s what he wants and that’s what ESPN decides to pay him, then of course he is. Anyway, there’s something to be said for stability in a booth and in the late-1990s and 2000s there was more turnover in the MNF crew than on the Redskins quarterback depth chart. While it might make for some good press when the drama of who comes next is playing out; at the end of it all, everyone is hoping to find that Madden and Summerall, a team that can last for decades without drama. If ESPN thinks it has theirs in Mike Tirico and Gruden, then the ex-coach is worth every penny.

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This also answers the lingering question about why Gruden, who is no longer a young gun at age 52 but is assumed to be a guy who misses the adrenaline rush of everything NFL, has stuck it out in the booth for seven seasons and is under contract for six more. Six-point-five million is a lot of money, a total reportedly only surpassed by six NFL coaches: Pete Carroll ($8M), Sean Payton ($8M), Bill Belichick ($7.5M), Andy Reid ($7.5M), John Harbaugh ($7M) and Tom Coughlin ($7M).

While Gruden’s contract, which is not made public, almost certainly contains out clauses should he ever get the coaching bug again, what’s not to love about life behind the microphone? He still gets to watch film and break down players, he’s still a huge part of the sport he loves and he can do it all without the unknowable stress of being an NFL head coach.