NFL insider James Palmer
Credit: James Palmer on Facebook
The NFL insider musical chairs continues, as James Palmer is headed to Amazon Prime Video.
According to The Athletic’s Andrew Marchand, Palmer will replace Ian Rapoport as the NFL insider for Thursday Night Football, providing reporting for the pregame and postgame shows. It is the latest domino to fall following the merger of ESPN and NFL Network and the resignation of Dianna Russini from The Athletic.
A longtime NFL media veteran, Palmer has bounced around to several unique opportunities in recent years. Palmer now co-hosts a podcast with former NFL Network colleague Steve Smith Jr. and is Bleacher Report’s NFL insider. Recently, Palmer also co-hosted Scoop Citywith Russini and served as the lead NFL reporter for Underdog before its pivot to prediction markets.
Also per Marchand, Prime Video pursued Tom Pelissero before hiring Palmer. On Monday, Netflix announced Pelissero would be the insider for its NFL slate this season while also podcasting at The Ringer, whose shows are licensed by the streamer.
Rapoport contributed to TNF last season, but his exclusive contract with ESPN and NFL Network forced the move. Previously, Albert Breer of Sports Illustrated occupied the role in 2024, and a former ESPNer did so in 2022 and 2023.
While The Athletic did not hire a new “insider” to replace Russini, who left the outlet this past spring following revelations of an alleged affair with NFL head coach Mike Vrabel, it did bring in Jonathan Jones as its top NFL reporter. Jones’ old home, CBS Sports, is not expected to hire a replacement.
As more networks air NFL games and get in on the NFL content game, original news and information are arguably becoming even more valuable. Distributors want to distinguish themselves and their broadcasts. Beyond strong personalities and sharp analysis, news scoops help them break through.