Report: Skip Bayless' 'Undisputed' Struggling to Replace Shannon Sharpe amid Hiatus

Following the departure of Pro Football Hall of Fame tight end Shannon Sharpe, Skip Bayless and FS1 are reportedly struggling to find his replacement for the daily sports debate show Undisputed.

On Wednesday, Bayless surprisingly announced on Twitter that new episodes of Undisputed will not return until Aug. 28, meaning the show will have been on a nearly two-month hiatus by then:

According to Michael McCarthy of Front Office Sports, Bayless and FS1 are considering several options, including in-house candidates such as LeSean McCoy, Nick Wright, Emmanuel Acho and Joy Taylor, plus Keyshawn Johnson and Max Kellerman, who were both recently let go by ESPN.

Another possibility on the table is reportedly making the spot opposite Bayless a rotating position, which is what Stephen A. Smith has successfully done on ESPN's First Take.

A source told McCarthy that the haste of Sharpe's departure has also forced the hand of Bayless and FS1, saying: "Shannon's exit moved way faster than they expected. So they had no choice but to go on hiatus. Skip has never done anything like this during all his years at FS1 or ESPN. Not being on the air during all these NBA moves is killing him."

The 71-year-old Bayless, who joined ESPN on a full-time basis in 2004 after a successful career as a sports writer, was a stalwart on First Take from 2007 until his departure for Fox in 2016.

Bayless spent much of that time debating Smith, and McCarthy reported that Bayless wishes that was still the case, although it isn't possible with them now on competing networks.

McCarthy also noted that it isn't easy to find someone who wants to deal with Bayless' "domineering" presence, along with the fact that Bayless has final say on everything related to Undisputed.

Undisputed launched in 2016 and enjoyed success, but it has continued to lag behind Smith's First Take in the ratings.

Per McCarthy, First Take beats Undisputed by an average of nearly 300,000 viewers per day, and closing that gap after a lengthy hiatus could be a massive challenge.