Brian Billick Will No Longer Call Games for FOX

According to Jason McIntyre of The Big Lead, FOX Sports has parted ways with Brian Billick, the former head coach of the Baltimore Ravens. Billick had served as a football analyst for the past six years with FOX as a color commentator for games. His contract was up, and the network decided not to renew it, which comes as a bit of a surprise. Just two years ago, Billick received a postseason game with the network, getting second billing to Joe Buck and Troy Aikman.

A few Browns have speculated in the past whether Billick would ever leave a comfortable, well-paying gig at FOX to return to the NFL, and now we might get our answer. It's too late for Billick to be brought in as an assistant coach really, but someone could offer him a job as a consultant if he's looking to get back into coaching in 2015. Or, as The Big Lead suggests, he might try to latch on to the NFL Network, either as an analyst or a columnist.

This is the third significant shake-up this offseason in the world of football broadcasting. The two other instances involve CBS, who replaced Dan Marino and Shannon Sharpe with Tony Gonzalez and Bart Scott on their pregame show, and will be taking over for the NFL Network games as Jim Nantz and Phil Simms replace Mike Mayock and Brad Nessler.

Who will FOX replace Billick with? I'm not certain, and even though he's not a color guy, FOX should really put Gus Johnson back on NFL games. Since getting the rights to Johnson, the network has only used him for NCAA Football and soccer.