Dianna Russini is ending her time on the sidelines. The former top NFL insider for The Athletic has gotten the word out that she's returning to sports media next week, per NBC Sports' Pro Football Talk — timing that lines up with the halfway point of the 2026 NFL season.

Russini stepped down from her role at The Athletic this offseason after becoming embroiled in scandal involving the surfacing of numerous photos, with coverage tying the controversy to Mike Vrabel. She has been out of the industry since.

Where Russini lands has not been specified in the initial reports, which focused on the timing of her comeback rather than a destination. Before the controversy, she ranked among the most prominent NFL newsbreakers in the business, with a track record at ESPN prior to joining The Athletic.

Her return at midseason puts her back in the mix just as the NFL's trade-deadline fallout, playoff races and coaching-hot-seat cycles heat up — the stretch of the calendar where insider reporting matters most. Expect an announcement on her new home to follow quickly.