Was Matt Lauer ready to leave ‘Today’ to re-team with Katie Couric?

Even without saying anything, Matt Lauer just cannot seem to stay out of the spotlight these days, and the latest example of this comes via some new reports suggesting that the longtime host of NBC’s “The Today Show” was at one point considering a move over to ABC alongside his former co-host Katie Couric.

According to a report from New York Magazine, Lauer at one point considered taking part in the show that is now “Katie” after reports first came out that his current employer was speaking with Ryan Seacrest about a potential role on the morning broadcast. Lauer reportedly was able to use this new offer at ABC as a sort of negotiating tactic, and this helped him sign a new contract that pays him over $25 million a season. This ultimately secured that he had a few more years of employment over at NBC, while “Katie” morphed on its own into the most-successful new talk show of the year. (Seacrest did sign on for a role on the network, but in a limited capacity so that he could continue to do his myriad of other commitments.)

Of course, now there are all sorts of reports and claims out there suggesting that there is more turmoil at “Today” behind the scenes, as executives are unhappy about falling behind in the ratings at “Good Morning America.” However, we’re told that there are no concrete plans at this time to change up the on-air personalities, though the show has at Lauer’s encouragement started to gear more towards uplifting stories this year after becoming at times depressing and tabloid-y in 2012.

Do you think that Lauer and Couric would have been a great team on a talk show? If you want to hear the latest reports of turmoil at NBC regarding Jay Leno and Jimmy Fallon, you can do so over here.

Photo: NBC