Rick Reilly was making crazy money at Sports Illustrated, but when ESPN offered him money that was, in his words, "ridunklous" he left.

And because of a non-compete clause, Reilly is just hanging out until June 1, getting paid by ESPN for just being him. And what has he been up to? Living the life:

"I just got back from three weeks in Argentina," Reilly says, "and I'm fixing to go to Tahiti, Thailand, New Zealand, Cabo, Europe. I'm going to drink coffee, play the piano, get up, have breakfast, go back to bed and read, and forget the job. They call it a no-compete clause. I call it bliss."

… Reilly is "reading all the books I ditched out on in high school — like Nabokov, who I'd never read before" and adding to his frequent-flier miles. He'll continue doing so for the better part of four months, all the while collecting a massive salary simply for being him.

The jocks win again.

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Rick Reilly Is Really Rich Rumors that Rick Reilly will be making $2 mil at ESPN were apparently low. Not relative to our salary, but to his. New sources have him at $17 million over the next five years, or $3.4 million a year. Cha-ching! [Silicon Alley Insider]

First it was Rick Reilly of Sports Illustrated. Then it was Mark Fainaru-Wada of the San Francisco Chronicle. Now ESPN has added T.J. Quinn of the Daily News to its inflated payroll. Quinn’s reasoning for leaving the news business:

There is a world of difference between what TV pays you and what newspapers pay you. You hate that to be a deciding factor, but I have three kids. That alone isn't enough, but it pushes you in that direction.

On the plus side, the overpriced burgers at the ESPN Zone are ultimately funding award winning sports journalism.

Rick Reilly, allegedly the highest paid writer in history of Time Inc., is set to make even more at ESPN. Once the proud signer of a five-year, $5 million contract, he’s now doubling that at ESPN with a $10 million over five years deal.

Reilly will stay on at Sports Illustrated until December 1. Time Inc. is enforcing its revenge non-competition rule, so Reilly won’t start at ESPN until June 1.

On the deal, Reilly said, "It's tough leaving SI after 23 years, but I just had this itch I had to scratch," referring to working on TV.

Now he can scratch that metaphorical itch with a figurative diamond encrusted backscratcher.

Last week, Dan Patrick signed with Sports Illustrated, presumably for more money than ESPN was offering him. This week, Rick Reilly, longtime SI columnist, made the opposite move, also presumably for more money.

Patrick and Reilly have played ESPN and SI against each other for their financial gain. But the network and magazine are stupid to engage in these lateral trades. Anyone who cares about following the work of Dan Patrick and Rick Reilly already watches ESPN and subscribes to Sports Illustrated. To the rest of us, all white guys reporting on sports look the same.

UPDATE: Rick Reilly confirmed the pay increase, saying "the money [at ESPN] is ridonkulous."