To be clear: I take no joy in this. Some of the most talented people in the business work at ESPN, and they’re being let go through no fault of their own. But people want to know. Check back often.

Adding a major one up here: Jayson Stark.

Some more notables late yesterday and last night:

Andy Katz, Claire Smith, Jade McCarthy, Jaymee Sire, Dottie Pepper, Roger Cossack, Doug Glanville, Dallas Braden, and Rauuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuul Ibanez.

Confirmed:

Ed Werder

ESPN not dicking around here. Werder was inarguably one of the more respected reporters, but he’s one-dimensional and ESPN seems to be valuing people they can use on a wide range of platforms. Still, to cut Werder the day before the NFL draft– ouch. It seems like Werder knew it was coming– he started a podcast (using the same cutting edge host we’re using).

 

Scott Burnside

Hockey reporter.

 

Joe McDonald

Hockey reporter. [I feel like this is going to be a theme– hockey is the ugly stepchild at WWL.]

 

Paul Kuharsky

Titans beat writer. I wonder how many of the NFL team writers they had travel to Bristol for the draft special last night will be let go today?

 

Pierre LeBrun

ESPN’s preeminent hockey guy.

 

More after the jump.

Dana O’Neil

College basketball reporter. Used to cover Villanova for the Daily News and wrote a book about Jay Wright.

 

Austin Ward

Big 10 reporter.

 

Brendan Fitzgerald

ESPNU reporter.

 

Mike Goodman

Soccer writer.

 

John Buccigross

Hockey died.

UPDATE: Brutal reporting from Marisa Guthrie here– who reported that he was gone and now says he is not done, at least until his contract is up this summer.

 

Jesse Temple

Big 10 reporter.

 

Jim Bowdon

MLB reporter.

 

Mark Saxon

MLB reporter.

 

Brett McMurphy

College football. It seems like they are doing A LOT of specialized, web-based staff, with a few of the bigger names mixed in.

 

Jeremy Crabtree

College writer.

 

Earmonn Brennan

College basketball.

 

Jean-Jacques Taylor

College football writer. It seems now that they are focusing heavily on writers and keeping most on-air talent. It’s no longer about “writing”– it’s about audio and video and having a skillset that is more than writing good sentences. That’s how people consume, and more importantly it’s what can be monetized. But, that doesn’t excuse why dipshits like Stephen A. Smith still have a job. He makes ESPN money, sure, but I think they’d be surprised to learn that a sane, intelligent human could be just as interesting on TV.

 

Derek Tyson

College football writer.

 

Brian Bennett

College basketball writer.

 

Johnette Howard

Columnist.

 

Danny Kanell

College football analyst.

 

Doug Padilla

Dodgers reporter.

 

C.L. Brown

College basketball reporter.

 

Just leaving this here:

Part of the problem is that ESPN thinks the answer to their problems is the surface-level fare they put on TV.

Nailed it:

https://twitter.com/Kyle_Feldscher/status/857279850322812928

 

Jane McManus

Reporter.

 

Jayson Stark

GOOD GOD THE HUMANITY.

 

Trent Dilfer

Here come the big ones.

 

Ted Miller

College football.

 

Jay Crawford

Cold Pizza pioneer.

 

Len Elmore

College basketball.

 

Ethan Strauss

College basketball.

 

Justin Verrier

?

 

Robin Lundberg

ESPN Radio.

 

Ashley Fox

NFL reporter and formerly of the Inquirer.

 

Calvin Watkins

Dude.

 

Melissa Isaacson

I have no idea who this is.

 

Reese Waters

I’m honestly not sure.

 

Chantel Jennings

College sports.