Pat McAfee’s career has been a whirlwind of football, commentary, and wrestling, but even the most energetic man in sports media has a breaking point. Now, he’s finally confirmed which of his global gigs is getting the axe, revealing that a return to WWE commentary is not expected anytime soon.

“I don’t think you ever say never, especially with the WWE,” McAfee said on his Instagram. “But right now, it does not feel like it is something that is supposed to happen. It feels like that business has kind of passed me by a little bit. I grew up loving it, dreamed of working it, and feel honored that I got the opportunity to work alongside the GOAT, Michael Cole. But I feel like the business is in a good spot without me. I’ll continue to watch.”

McAfee first became involved with WWE in 2018 through occasional appearances before eventually stepping into a color commentator role. Later on, his schedule became even more complicated. Since 2021, he has balanced WWE work with major responsibilities at ESPN, often stepping away during the fall while working on College GameDay.

McAfee has his radio show, a demanding ESPN schedule, and the nonstop WWE calendar that stretches throughout the year. On top of that, WWE Premium Live Events often take place on Saturdays, the same day College GameDay dominates the sports landscape. Even so, McAfee usually found a way to return during WrestleMania season, which made his recent absence stand out even more.

However, the break did not come out of nowhere. Aside from a brief appearance in Indianapolis last September, McAfee has been largely absent from WWE broadcasts since stepping away in June of last year. Not long after finishing a short feud with Gunther at Backlash, the grind finally caught up with him.

Soon after that stretch, McAfee openly admitted he had reached his limit.

“I got real tired, man,” McAfee said in July on his radio show. “I could just feel it. I’m like, ‘Oh my God, my brain is not operating right now. I knew this moment was coming, like I knew it was gonna happen at some point.”

While stepping away from WWE makes sense given his schedule, McAfee quickly revealed his next major project with ESPN.

Pat McAfee reveals ESPN free agency coverage plans

On his Instagram stories, McAfee teased a major broadcast centered on the NFL offseason.

“BREAKING Free Agency Frenzy Tomorrow,” he wrote.

For the upcoming edition of The Pat McAfee Show, ESPN has tapped McAfee to anchor its ‘Free Agency Frenzy’ special, which will air at 12 p.m. ET.

During that show, McAfee will sit down with several familiar ESPN voices, like Peter Schrager and Dan Orlovsky, while analysts will join the conversation as contracts come together across the league.

However, this partnership between his show and ESPN’s NFL department did not start smoothly.

“ESPN NFL people, which is a department, ESPN NFL. They didn’t think we would be able to handle it last year, so they counter-programmed us on ESPN2,” McAfee said last week.

“They tell us immediately, ‘You’re not allowed to have Schefter, he’s with us,’ all of this. It’s like, OK, we’ll see how this goes for you guys. Murder scene, by the way, not only because we’re on ESPN, which is what everyone has on, but also because we’ve lived this life too, somehow. I know you guys created the game, but we’ve also been in this whole thing? So there were some nice conversations between the last free agency frenzy and the next free agency frenzy, where we’re going to work together. Don’t we think this would be a good idea?”

Still, the bigger question is how far ESPN wants to take this concept. Many fans now track free agency news on their phones, often learning about deals through social media alerts before television catches up. However, the network could flip that dynamic if it wanted to.

With insiders like Adam Schefter breaking nearly every major signing, ESPN could easily deliver the news live on television first before sending it across social media. For now, though, that idea remains just a possibility.