On Thursday, Hall of Fame tight end and media personality Shannon Sharpe announced that he’ll be stepping aside from ESPN until the start of the NFL preseason. As it turns out, ESPN was ready to push him to the sideline, if he hadn’t voluntarily walked away.

Dominic Patten of Deadline.com reports that ESPN had decided to remove Sharpe from his Monday and Tuesday slot on First Take before Sharpe decided to walk away.

After Sharpe announced his decision to exit ESPN for now, ESPN said this in a statement: “This is a serious situation, and we agree with Shannon’s decision to step away.”

The other question for Sharpe is his next podcast deal. As of a week ago, he was looking at (reportedly) a nine-figure agreement. Now, it’s hard to see that happening.