Report: Jonathan Jones is in "advanced talks" to leave CBS for The Athletic
· Yahoo Sports
In last week's lengthy article from the New York Times about Dianna Russini, the former NFL insider at The Athletic, a Times Company spokesperson said as to the possibility that The Athletic will hire a new NFL insider: “Not something I can confirm at that level of detail at this point.”
While it's still not clear that The Athletic will have an NFL insider, it could soon be hiring someone who has been one.
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Ryan Glasspiegel of Front Office Sports reports that Jonathan Jones is in advanced talks to leave CBS Sports for The Athletic. Glasspiegel adds that a deal has not been finalized.
Per the report, Jones would focus on features reporting and behind-the-scenes coverage of the NFL.
It could be that the Times Company and The Athletic have realized that the "insider" role (as it has evolved) can't be reconciled with traditional reporting. Most of what is reported by insiders arises from transactions that inevitably will be announced. Often, the announcement comes only two minutes after the tweet from the insider is posted. Getting in position to get a team or an agent to provide the insider with advance notice can create a whole host of potential issues, for a company that purports to have very high journalistic standards.
In the NFL space, the only true journalism comes from finding out things the league, the teams, and/or the individuals involved don't want us to know. Or, in the case of what Jones will be doing, generating content that provides the kind of rich details and expansive content that isn't conducive to 280 characters.
Jones joined CBS in 2019. He had been a regular contributor to The NFL Today. As of 2025, CBS removed the on-air insider role from the one-hour pregame show. Jones wrote items for CBSSports.com and appeared on the CBS streaming platform.