The latest on J.J. Watt’s TV free agency: the suitors, the role and the decision ahead

J.J. Watt has network NFL TV offers on the table, but the question is whether he wants to take them, The Post has learned.

If Watt does take a TV job, CBS is considered the favorite for his services in what is a Super Bowl year for the network.

It would not be a full-time job as Watt does not want the time commitment. He also would not be replacing anyone.

He would be expected to be on the pre-game show for the Super Bowl and make some appearances during the season.

NBC and NFL Network also have shown interest in Watt.

Though neither can be totally ruled out, Watt is more likely to land at CBS, if anywhere.

Because Watt is not replacing anyone, it basically has created an elastic deadline — it will be decided when Watt figures out whether he is ready to go or not.

Watt was listed as the No. 2 free agent on the SportsClicker NFL TV Big Board prior to the Super Bowl. Let’s take a look at what has gone with the others.

• Mina Kimes: She is still unsigned, but ESPN very much wants to keep her.

• Marcus Spears: Re-signed with ESPN for four years and around $7 million.

• Peter Schrager: A little news … Schrager has re-upped with NFL Network and Fox Sports.

• Devin McCourty: Signed to be on NBC’s pre-game show, “Football Night in America.”

Quick Clicks

NBA insider Adrian Wojnarowski said on Ryen Russillo’s podcast that he won’t tip NBA Draft picks this year, as he wants to focus on the broadcast. Here is why that is the right decision: Who pays Woj? It’s not Twitter, it’s ESPN, which owns the rights to the draft. Some will say when you have information as a reporter, you have to get it out there. I’d argue that the information has to have value. Telling the picks moments or minutes before they happen seems like a pretty good show of reporting muscle, but it doesn’t have much weight. The teams and the league are announcing them shortly after. Woj said he will focus more on the storytelling. The insight into what is going on is really where the magic is on TV, and if I were the one paying Woj millions, I’d want him to focus on that.

… MLB Network will cover the MLB Draft Combine on Tuesday and Wednesday. Some big names will be involved, including ex-Met Mike Hampton. … Ahead of next weekend’s London games, MLB Network’s Lauren Shehadi, Robert Flores and Mark DeRosa will take their “MLB Central” show to England on Thursday and Friday. On Saturday, Derek Jeter will make his Fox Sports studio debut. … NBC’s Peter Drury is now the lead voice of the Premier League in England. However, Drury is not totally leaving NBC. He still will call Saturday matches. Sky Sports, which has the Premier League rights in the UK, and NBC are partners. NBC will need to add another play-by-player for their other marquee games.

Next on the FAN …

The choice of Tiki Barber as Craig Carton’s replacement on WFAN’s afternoon drive makes sense for a number of reasons.

1. As a former Giant great, advertisers like it. Talk radio is a relationship business, and having Barber and Boomer Esiason as bookends for afternoon and mornings is very helpful with sponsors.

2. Barber is experienced. He began doing media stuff 25 years ago. His NBC “Today Show” experience was up and down and controversial, but he has recovered. And it’s a win to have one of the best running backs in Giants history in one of Mike & the Mad Dog’s old seats.

3. There is an unanswered question: Will Barber and Evan Roberts be any good? It will be a different show than Carton and Roberts had. It will likely be more about sports. FAN executives believe Roberts has grown as a host. He is going to have to drive the show.

What FS1 should do with Carton

It is smart that FS1 wants to simulcast Carton’s TV show on radio. The arrangements usually go the other way around, but it is a good plan.

Here is a suggestion for reformatting “The Carton Show”: We would make it more of a “Morning Joe”-type setup. MSNBC’s program, led by Joe Scarborough, has a bunch of panelists to go deeper into a variety of issues, but focuses on politics.

In the current setup, the dynamic of Carton standing and the three athlete panelists sitting looks awkward. It looks like a teacher with pupils. We would have everyone sitting.

As far as the content, Carton has crossed the line into bad taste on many occasions — and he should leave those traits in the past — but what he does well is understanding how to find an angle. It may not be an accurate one, but it can be one that engages fans. He learned this by doing radio.

That is why I would make it a little more of a radio show on TV. Don Imus is an example of a program that comes to mind from his heyday on MSNBC and FAN. This would probably be better TV and would make the radio simulcast idea more plausible.

Clicker Book Club

Dan Taylor’s “Baseball at the Abyss: The Scandals of 1926, Babe Ruth, and the Unlikely Savior Who Rescued a Tarnished Game” takes the reader back to the 1920s. Two of the game’s greatest stars, Ty Cobb and Tris Speaker, were charged with betting and fixing games, while two men helped saved the game from the scandals: Ruth, the aging slugger who produced one of the greatest seasons in baseball history (1927), and Christy Walsh, the agent and business manager who guided Ruth both in baseball-related activities (including getting and staying in shape) and non-baseball ventures (appearing in motion pictures).

This book takes the reader through a lesser-known but most interesting time in baseball history. My dad, Papa Clicker Herb Marchand, gives it 4.35 out of 5 clickers.