Whether you like Skip Bayless and and Stephen A. Smith or not, ESPN’s “First Take” has become extreme popular over the last few years, providing hot takes and endless debate during lunch breaks everywhere, and it’s earned Bayless a huge contract with FS1. The question, though, has been: Who will partner with Skip on his new show?

Could it be Colin Cowherd, who already left the mothership earlier this year? What about Jason Whitlock?

Nope. According to Michael McCarthy of the Sporting News, Skip’s new debate partner may in fact be former Denver Bronco and Hall of Famer Shannon Sharpe.

“He’s basically been auditioning for Skip — and FS1 — in plain sight,” a source told the Sporting News.

Sharpe was formerly an analyst on CBS’s “NFL Today” pregame show, but over the last few months, he’s been reemerging onto the “Hot-Take Scene” with gust appearances on “First Take” and FS1’s “The Herd with Colin Cowherd.”

Per usual, Skip even threw in a few jabs before the debating started.

And afterwards, Sharpe kept the punches swinging.

And when asked by fans if Sharpe was headed back to TV any time soon, he didn’t say no.

And if there’s one thing we know about Sharpe, it’s that he’s not afraid to speak his mind. Just ask the New England Patriots.