The Dianna Russini – Mike Vrabel controversy has a new update. The investigation into the NFL Insider that began in April ended with The Athletic concluding that while her relationship with the New England Patriots head coach was a “clear violation” of the company policy, they found “scant evidence” that the relationship impacted the coverage she did around the Patriots and the Tennessee Titans (Vrabel’s former team). With that out of the way, Russini is already gearing up for the next chapter.

“Dianna Russini is ‘absolutely’ planning a comeback to sports media,” Front Office Sports’ Michael McCarthy penned in an exclusive report. “The former senior NFL insider for The Athletic has been in discussions about several new job opportunities, ranging from pro football insider to opinionist/personality, say sources.

“Russini hasn’t decided on her next play. But with the kickoff of the new pro football season only six days away, the former ESPN reporter is expected to make her move sooner rather than later.

“The New York Times-owned Athletic’s decision to publicly release the long-awaited findings of its internal investigation that largely cleared Russini of biased Vrabel coverage could help pave the way for her return, say sources.”

To that end, she already has a couple of lucrative options lined up. The biggest offer, per Michael McCarthy, may be coming from Dave Portnoy, the founder of Barstool Sports. Russini has been a frequent guest on the blog’s Pardon My Take podcast and is also friends with the co-hosts Dan ‘Big Cat’ Katz and PFT Commenter.

A few months ago, in an interview with US Weekly, Dave Portnoy was asked if he’d hire Russini, who’d responded strongly in support of the idea.

“Absolutely,” Portnoy said. “No-brainer, if she wanted to work here, we’d do it. … An affair is not like a murder. It’s bad, but I’m not in the family. She’ll land somewhere, and you know, if people who have affairs are never allowed to work again in this country, you’re gonna lose a significant amount of the workforce. So, it is obviously really sad, but at the same time, that’s not like a capital offense that should end somebody’s professional career.”

Even before Portnoy fielded this question, back in May, Fox Sports Radio host Jon ‘Stugotz’ Weiner was one of the strongest vocal supporters for Dianna Russini on his show, Stugotz and Co., where he maintained that this was Russini’s story to tell, and just being her friend didn’t mean he had to reveal “every single salacious detail” just because he was being asked to. He even offered Russini an open invitation to join him on the show at the time.

“I am not a mouthpiece for Dianna Russini,” Weiner said. “I am simply saying, it’s her story to tell, it’s not my story, and I am simply going to support my friend. I did say if The Athletic fired her, I would hire her. They didn’t fire her. She stepped down from The Athletic, and the offer holds forever. If Dianna Russini decides one day, three months from now, a year from now, two years from now, that she wants to get back into this game, she has a place right here.”

Now, Dianna Russini has 13 years of experience under her belt, combining her time with ESPN and The Athletic. Her resume is even longer when you take into account her stints with CSN Northwest, News 12 Westchester, and the NBC stations WRC-TV, WNBC, and WVIT. With The Athletic’s investigation now officially over, Russini can leverage that experience into her next big role.