Paul Finebaum unsure about future at ESPN with expiring contract

Paul Finebaum is under contract with ESPN through this college football season, but the longtime radio host and college football analyst is unsure about his future at the company.

Finebaum recently joined the Awful Announcing Podcast , where he confirmed ESPN pulled him from its programming last year after he told Clay Travis, then with OutKick, he was considering a run for U.S. Senate as a Republican. At the time, ESPN denied Finebaum was being sidelined. But one year later, Finebaum opened up about what he felt was an intentional sidelining by ESPN.

"Of course, I was sidelined," Finebaum said on the Awful Announcing Podcast . "I'd done the same shows every day for 13 years, and the next thing you know, I'm not on there after a college football weekend."

Finebaum ultimately returned to his regularly scheduled shows on ESPN and decided against a pivot to politics. But now his future at ESPN is in question again, with his contract set to expire next summer. Finebaum said he "feels pretty good" about his current relationship with ESPN, but that doesn't mean a new contract is imminent.

"I don't know yet," Finebaum admitted when asked whether he would like to stay at ESPN beyond this college football season. "The contract technically runs out in July, but I'm a college football analyst. So at the end of January, I will probably start contemplating exactly what is next. But I would be foolish to tell you anybody who is in the last year of a contract doesn't think about it. Troy Aikman thinks about it, so does everyone else. But I would also be foolish to tell you I know what I'm going to do next."

"I intend to continue doing what I'm doing, which is doing a show of some sort, but I don't know how it will be constructed," Finebaum continued. "These are always awkward situations that are probably best not discussed in the public airwaves, but then again, here we are."

Finebaum has been with ESPN since 2013, telling Awful Announcing he's not sure the company realized what they were getting with his radio show. "I don't think very many people at ESPN had ever listened to the show," Finebaum said. But even if they didn't know what they were getting, ESPN has been happy enough with the product to continue the partnership for more than a decade.

Aside from last year's sidelining, Finebaum's relationship with ESPN has been a successful one. He was integral in building SEC Nation , he continues to be a lead voice on college football for Get Up and First Take , and his radio show, which is simulcast on SEC Network, is one of the most popular in the country. If Finebaum is interested in staying with ESPN, the interest should be mutual.