The first wave of NFL free agency might be over, but when it comes to the sports media world, contractual dramas go on. One of those names that has kept on making the headlines with his contract expiring before the new NFL season kickoff is ESPN’s Dan Orlovsky. ‘Will he stay, or will he go?’ That’s the question that has constantly hovered over the NFL community since Super Bowl LIX’s conclusion. But now it seems we finally have an update on ESPN’s stance on bringing Dan back before someone else gets to him.

Front Office Sports has debunked a few rumors surrounding Orlovsky’s future. They believe that even if Orlovsky has options like Fox NFL kickoff or aspirations of becoming a head coach. “Our sources think Orlovsky’s best move career-wise would be to stay at ESPN,” per FOS report. See, it’s an open secret that ESPN has loved the former Lions’ quarterback ever since he penned a 3-year deal in 2022.

Orlovsky has been a mainstay on the network, shouldering programming responsibilities not only on ‘NFL Live’. He also showed his equally proficient analyst capabilities in Stephen A. Smith’s First Take and Mike Greenberg’s Get Up. The moment Orlovsky on an episode of First Take said, “Never know what the future holds,” thanking Smith, Ryan Clark, Shannon Sharpe, and Molly Qerim for a wonderful season together, fans pondered whether this was it.

However, since his cryptic retirement post, Orlovsky made a brief return to ESPN’s Get Up earlier in March. He was even captured answering a few burning questions about his ESPN future on social media. When a fan on X asked the 41-year-old whether his retirement was already over, Orlovsky replied, “Was never retiring. Just taking my time away.” Then he also proceeded to spill the excitement of his possible return by adding, “No, just a day or 2 up till draft,” when asked whether he was coming back full time.

So, until there’s a clear offer from ESPN, this contractual drama might never reach its climax. And while Orlovsky has found himself embroiled in a contract impasse, he was reduced to tears seeing his autistic son.

Dan Orlovsky receives a special gift from ESPN

NFL Live’s Wednesday edition looked a bit different this week. In honor of World Autism Awareness Day, ESPN decided to surprise their analyst, Dan Orlovsky, with his son Madden. This idea came across NFL Live’s director, Tim Farrell, when he saw one of Madden’s creations last year on Toy Story featuring Woody and Buzz Lightyear. Madden, who was diagnosed with autism more than a decade ago, harbors a special passion for drawings.

So, when ESPN highlighted his drawings on their show, Orlovsky couldn’t help but feel proud as a father. “His super power is drawing. He loves to draw animation and characters. So today’s studio, the art of it, is all decorated by Madden. It is all of his drawings.” Now, to make it more special, the show also portrayed the live reaction of Madden when he saw the studio decorated with his artwork.

An excited 13-year-old Madden was found running across the studio with his mouth covered as he explored every drawing of his. Besides just artwork, Madden was even asked to sing his favorite song for his dad. After gushing a bit, Madden sang “You’ve Got a Friend in Me,” which instantly brought tears to Orlovsky’s eyes. Seeing how well his son was received in the studio. Surely Orlovsky isn’t thinking about going anywhere else, right?