Chris Russo Wouldn't Not Want to Be Considered to Replace Mike Francesa on WFAN in 2018

Chris Russo was a guest on WFAN’s Boomer and Carton on Wednesday. The whole conversation is worth a listen, but the snippet below where they asked him if he would consider replacing his former Mike Francesa (whose contract is up at the end of next year) for the station’s afternoon drive program was what made the most waves.

Mad Dog answered the question with questions like, “Who wouldn’t want to be considered?” He said his contract with Sirius XM (“Russo originally signed a five-year contract worth an estimated $15 million in 2008, then re-upped for three years — for substantially less money — late in 2013,” Neil Best wrote on Wednesday) ends before the end of this year, and that the company probably wouldn’t want him on a short-term deal to bridge the gap for a year or less.

Whoever replaces Francesa in that spot faces a monumental challenge, though Dog’s familiarity with the listeners would arguably make him most suited for it. If he took that job, he’d have to return to a more New York-centric show, and ease up at least a little bit on long conversations about tennis and baseball at-large, but he’d know that going in.

Francesa pled ignorance on this discussion, but did briefly address it with a caller on Wednesday:

If Mike and the Mad Dog could somehow make the money work, a renewed partnership would be great for everybody.