FOX has yanked another talented ESPN personality out of Bristol. This time it is three-time Pro Bowler Jonathan Vilma, who is the owner of a Super Bowl ring, a BCS National Championship ring, and the 2004 NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year trophy.
Vilma was in the studio on Saturdays for ABC’s college football coverage. He is moving to the booth and moving to the pros for FOX. Andrew Marchand of The New York Post reports that Vilma is likely to be paired with Kenny Albert after FOX chose not to renew Ronde Barber’s contract.
This is the fourth high-profile talent to bolt ESPN for a network in the FOX family. Adam Amin will call football, baseball, and college basketball for FOX starting this fall after more than nine years at ESPN. Emmanuel Acho agreed to become Nick Wright’s new co-host on FS1’s First Thing First. Most recently, ESPN Radio confirmed that Will Cain is leaving the network’s East Coast afternoon drive slot at the end of the month. He is expected to join FOX News.
Charles Davis’s departure for CBS leaves a hole alongside Kevin Burkhardt in FOX’s #2 NFL booth that the network is yet to fill. Whether or not Vilma is a candidate in the future remains to be seen. The longer that the network goes without making a hire, the more it seems likely that someone will get a one year deal for 2020 and a long term plan will be made ahead of the 2021 season.
