Taylor Lewan, Will Compton, Dave Portnoy. Getty Images(3)
Contract negotiations are a hot topic, especially when Barstool Sports personalities are involved.
The “Bussin’ With the Boys” podcast hosts Will Compton and Taylor Lewan are in the middle of negotiating a new deal with the media company and while it might have hurt their chances to win Surviving Barstool season 4, it also raised questions about the former NFL stars’ future at Barstool.
“Right now, the ‘Bussin’ With the Boys’ crew is in a negotiation for a bag on the next contract,” Compton shared during his Surviving Barstool confessional in January 2025. “You gotta think, if you’re Dave [Portnoy] and Dan [“Big Cat” Katz], you can’t have the ‘Bussin With the Boys’ guys running wild, winning $250K.”
The former football player, who won season 3 in 2024, was voted off the show shortly after his cohost, Lewan.
“Winning a quarter of a million dollars and then potentially throwing the deuces to us at the end of the year,” Compton continued. “So, my hat goes off. Tip of the cap. Dave, Big Cat, great game boys.”
Keep scrolling for more details about the ‘Bussin With the Boys’ podcast:
Who Are the ‘Bussin’ With the Boys’ Hosts?
Compton, a former NFL linebacker, signed with the Washington Commanders as an undrafted free agent in 2013. He joined the Tennessee Titans in 2018 for one year before signing with the New Orleans Saints in 2019 and later the Las Vegas Raiders. He went back to the Titans for a second stint in 2020 before returning to the Raiders in late 2021. By September 2023, Compton announced his retirement from professional football.
Lewan, meanwhile, was drafted as a tackle for the Titans in 2014 and remained with the organization for the duration of his career, which came to an end in 2023 after being out for the 2022 season with a knee injury.
When Did ‘Bussin’ With the Boys’ Join Barstool?
Compton and Lewan launched the podcast with the Barstool Sports network in 2019.
How Much Money Do the ‘Bussin’ With the Boys’ Podcast Hosts Make?
Compton spoke about the deals he and Lewan made with Barstool during an April 2024 episode of the “Next Up With Adam” podcast.
“Originally, [Barstool said] we’ll go 50/50, you guys get the IP. We said no, but we’ll go 60/40 and the minute we eclipse $1 million it goes up to 70/30 [in] our favor,” the former athlete explained. “They were on board with it, then I was like, ‘F—, I think we f—ing played ourselves.’”
Their “second deal” with the company was considered a “competitive offer,” meaning they couldn’t shop their show around. Compton said he and Lewan have since made a “beneficial” partnership with Barstool.
“Me, personally, I wanted to resign with Barstool. I think they are the best brand for us at this point in time,” Compton said. “We end up settling on a $3 million m.g. per year. We have the upside with that, every dollar made after $3 million.”
Is ‘Bussin’ With The Boys’ Renewing Their Barstool Sports Contract?
After Compton expressed that the “Bussin’ With the Boys” cohosts were in the middle of contract negotiations on Surviving Barstool, Big Cat confirmed the former NFL star’s speculation.
“Dave and I didn’t want Taylor or Will to win $250,000 cash on Barstool’s networks and then be, like, ‘Oh, by the way we’re leaving for a competitor,’ two seconds later,” Big Cat said during a January 2025 episode of the competition series.
Portnoy spoke further about this during an episode of “The Unnamed Podcast” that same month.
“During the time of filming [Surviving Barstool] I thought we were going to resign them, but going in, I knew that they were evaluating,” the Barstool Sports founder noted. “They had an offer. They were like, ‘We’re going to look at the world, see what it is.’”
Portnoy “did not want” to hand one of them $250,000 from the game win and have them leave the company. When asked during the same podcast episode if Compton and Lewan were leaving the company, Portnoy played coy. “I’m gonna let them handle it how they want to handle it,” he said.
During the Surviving Barstool finale in January 2025, the question remained unanswered.
“When we played that game, I thought they were coming back to Barstool,” Portnoy said. (Surviving Barstool was filmed in September 2024. The contestants returned for a live finale and reunion in January 2025.)
Compton hinted that “there’s negotiating still happening” with the show.
“The ‘Bussin’ future with us has nothing to do with this show,” Portnoy clarified. As of now, “Bussin’ With the Boys” podcast episodes are still being released under the Barstool name.
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