Former NFL safety and analyst Ryan Clark's departure from ESPN drew a strong reaction from Hall of Famer Deion Sanders, who called out the network over its decision to part ways with the longtime analyst.

Former Dallas Cowboys cornerback Deion Sanders reposted Clark’s message post-exit on X and pushed back on ESPN’s decision to lay off Clark and former NFL MVP Cam Newton.

“This is 1 of many reasons I love this brother [Clark] to Life!” Sanders’ X post read on July 21. “This was arguably the best talent on the ESPN roster! How can You Know WHO still be there and Ryan Clark AINT! Wow & please tell me the rumors of Cameron Newton ain’t true and this dude is STILL there.” 

Contrary to Sanders' hopes that Newton would remain with ESPN, as he mentioned in his X post, Newton was also fired later that day on July 21, as part of a significant round of network layoffs. 

The layoff ended Newton’s two-year tenure as a primary debate partner alongside sports analyst Stephen A. Smith on ESPN’s First Take.

Clark was fired by ESPN on July 20 during a live broadcast of ESPN’s NFL Live, after 11 years of tenure with the network.

The network informed him mid-air as they feared him being informed through online sources or other media outlets before ESPN notified him directly, according to Andrew Marchand of The Athletic.

The layoffs were a part of cost-cutting measures and the integration of assets from the NFL Network, which was recently acquired by the parent company, Disney.

A per a former ESPN staffer, the network has been through major layoffs every three years. There have been cuts in 2017, 2020, and 2023. During the 2026 edition, other than Clark and Newton, Karl Ravech was let go after 33 years.

Amid the ejections, ESPN's chairman addressed the issue.

Jimmy Pitaro addresses ESPN restructuring as veteran talent exits

Jimmy Pitaro, chairman of ESPN, explained the new round of layoffs that affected both on-air talent and staff in a company-wide memo obtained by Awful Announcing.

“Team: Over the past several months, we’ve made significant progress integrating the NFL assets that we acquired into ESPN," Jimmy Pitaro's memo read, per Matt Yoder of Awful Announcing. "As a result, we had to make some difficult decisions about job impacts that we will be communicating today."

NFL insider Tom Pelissero, injury analyst Stephania Bell, NFL Network analyst Charles Davis and former NFL linebacker and studio host Bart Scott were part of such major restructuring after Disney acquired NFL Network.

"While most of the job impacts are tied to the acquisition, we will also notify colleagues in other parts of the company today that their positions have been impacted," the memo further read.

The July layoff follows an earlier round of layoffs in mid-April 2026 during which they laid off 30 staff members, and comes as ESPN prepares to broadcast its first-ever Super Bowl in February 2027.

What are your thoughts on ESPN's way of restructuring? Let us know in the comments.

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Written by

Archana Ramakrishnan

Edited by

Soheli Tarafdar