ESPN's Chris Berman, who has been with that network since the day they first started, is being recruited by the NFL Network. (The Big Lead)

Berman's contract with the WWL is up in May and as we hear it, no one is in a hurry to sign him back up.  If this is true, Boomer may have no choice then to join the official network of the NFL.

From ESPN's perspective, Berman is sort of a mixed bag.  On the positive side, he is a tie to the earlier days of the network, familiar and trusted by the demographic that craves the NFL and MLB.  On the downside, the younger generation views Berman as a fossil and does not take kindly to his baseball nicknames and other signature sayings.  Letting Berman go would save Mickey a significant amount of cash while turning NFL Countdown over to someone with a better 18-34 "Q" rating.

For Berman, the decision would be pretty cut and dry: Go to the highest bidder.  Of course, the NFL Network is seen by six people because they are on few cable systems.  But the lack of exposure really doesn't hurt Berman because he's a known name. 

The other thing Berman would have to consider is how much he would miss baseball.  Again, if you are a highly paid, well know anchor for the NFL Network, chances are someone could slide you some tickets to a world series game.

There was a time that Chris Berman was the franchise at ESPN.  Now, he is the highest paid link to their past, a past they may be willing to part with.