Report: Dianna Russini leaves ESPN to become The Athletic’s top NFL insider

ESPN NFL insider Dianna Russini is leaving the network to become the top insider at The Athletic, the New York Post reports.

The 40-year-old Russini has been with ESPN since 2015, where she was a contributor, reporter, and host to pro football coverage.

According to the report, Russini was offered a pay raise to stay at ESPN but chose to go to The Athletic, where she will appear on video, podcasts and write stories for the website.

Before being hired at ESPN, Russini was the main sports anchor at WRC-TV in Washington, D.C. and worked for NBC Connecticut and WNBC in New York City.

Both ESPN and The Athletic have been in the news recently, with ESPN making headlines after laying off about 20 employees, including lead NBA analyst Jeff Van Gundy.

The Athletic, which was bought by the New York Times for $550 million last year, took over the sports coverage of the Times after the newspaper eliminated its entire sports department.