It’s getting harder and harder to argue that no one lost more than Dianna Russini in the fallout of her cheating scandal with New England Patriots head coach Mike Vrabel.
While Vrabel endured some uncomfortable moments since the allegations surfaced earlier this year, he’s currently preparing the Patriots to defend their AFC title this season. Russini, meanwhile, has disappeared from the public eye after losing her job with The Athletic. That certainly cost her in more ways than one.
Dianna Russini Salary? New Report Details How Much Mike Vrabel Scandal Cost Reporter
The New York Times detailed the months-long saga with some new reporting on June 24, a story that included details about the NFL reporter’s salary with The Athletic. According to the report, Russini was making a massive amount of money.
“Ms. Russini was not just any reporter,” the Times’ Katherine Rosan and Ken Belson wrote. “The Athletic paid her an annual salary of close to $800,000, according to a former manager who had knowledge of her salary negotiation. This would have made her one of the highest-paid journalists at the Times Company.”
On paper, it looks like a lot of money, and it certainly is, especially for someone in the media. It’s an industry that isn’t traditionally known for high wages. However, The Athletic made her the face of their NFL reporting, giving her high-profile assignments while also tabbing her to host a popular podcast.
“She had been promoted as a face of the sports publication, which the company bought in 2022 for $550 million as part of an effort to expand the Times’s reach to sports fans around the world,” the report added. “At the time the story broke, The Athletic was in discussions with Ms. Russini about renewing her contract, which was set to expire at the end of June.”
Dianna Russini to Resurface Before Patriots’ Opener?
Russini herself might be the only one who knows when she’ll break her silence. It’s currently the NFL’s quietest time of the year — in between mini-camps and training camps. Perhaps once teams get going in July, and the NFL comes back into the national dialogue, Russini will tell her side of the story.
Pro Football Talk’s Mike Florio believes she could wait until the fall, though. The PFT founder, who hasn’t been afraid to weigh in on the scandal, offered his own theory on when she could come forward. Florio thinks Russini might benefit from waiting until the eve of the season opener — when the Patriots play the Seattle Seahawks in a Super Bowl rematch — to speak.
“She’s been very quiet. She’s disappeared … She hasn’t spoken to anyone,” Florio said on June 22 during an episode of “PFT Live.” ” … That’s a helluva time for a live interview with Oprah, Morley Safer or someone where she can tell her whole story. That would throw a helluva wrench into the Week 1 game of the Patriots and the Seahawks.”
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