Ex-Sixers sideline reporter Molly Sullivan lands a new gig at the NFL Network

A year after being let go by NBC Sports Philadelphia, Molly Sullivan isn’t lacking for work.

Sullivan, who has been working for the Eagles since she was replaced as the Sixers’ sideline reporter by Serena Winters, has been hired by the NFL Network to call Conference USA football games.

Sullivan will work as the sideline reporter alongside Rhett Lewis and former Pittsburgh Steelers lineman Max Starks on five games this season, starting Saturday, when Grambling State takes on Louisiana Tech at 3:30 p.m..

This is the first season the NFL Network is airing games from Conference USA, which is made up of 14 southern schools like Florida Atlantic, Old Dominion, and the University of Southern Mississippi (the alma matter of Hall of Famer Brett Favre). The 10-game package is also the first time the NFL Network will air live college football in at least a decade.

Sullivan also announced that her role with the Eagles would be expanding this season. She will now report on the team every day from practice.

“Busiest month of my career, on deck,” Sullivan wrote on Twitter.

It looks like Michelle Beadle will be the latest big name to leave ESPN.

A source confirms a report from the New York Post’s Andrew Marchand that Beadle, who has been removed from Get Up! and NBA Countdown over the past year, is negotiating a buyout from the network.

Beadle reportedly makes $5 million a year, and since being replaced on ESPN’s high-profile NBA pre-game show by The Jump host Rachel Nichols and Maria Taylor, she has little work to show for the salary.

Beadle joined ESPN in 2009 as Colin Cowherd’s co-host on SportsNation. She left for NBC in 2011 before returning in 2014, and appeared to be a rising star before making the surprising admission on Get Up! last year that she had stopped watching football games over how the sport handled domestic violence issues.

“And every single one of these stories that comes out, every single time, pushes me further and further away. I realize they don’t care, but for me it’s opened up my weekends," Beadle said at the time.

• The Eagles’ season opener against the Washington Redskins will air at 1 p.m. on FOX (don’t miss the Inquirer’s season preview). Calling the game will be Kevin Burkhardt, Charles Davis, and sideline reporter Pam Oliver. The trio called the Eagles’ loss to the New Orleans Saints in the divisional round of the NFC playoffs last season.

• Former Eagles quarterback Donovan McNabb will be joining 97.5 The Fanatic this season as an analyst every Monday at 9:30 a.m. Ex-Eagles running back Brian Westbrook, McNabb’s former teammate who just celebrated his 40th birthday, will host his own show on the station at 6 p.m. Mondays alongside Devon Givens, beginning Sept. 9.

• ESPN turns 40 this week, so The Ringer’s Bryan Curtis spent some time with two of the most popular SportsCenter hosts of all time — Dan Patrick and Keith Olbermann. “We were not celebrities. We were factory workers in a factory town," Olbermann said.

• The Athletic’s Richard Deitsch had a long interview with ESPN NFL analyst and former Eagles scout Louis Riddick, who predicts we’ll see the Birds face off against Andy Reid and the Kansas City Chiefs in the Super Bowl. “I think it is because both have young, dynamic quarterbacks that can do anything you need them to do with the football,” Riddick said. “They are smart. They are motivated. They are strong. They are accurate. They are leaders.”