Dianna Russini (Getty Images)Dianna Russini has been out of a job since April, when the Mike Vrabel scandal forced her resignation from The Athletic. Now, nearly three months later, Barstool Sports founder Dave Portnoy has made his position clear. While promoting his memoir Cancel Me If You Can, Portnoy told Us Weekly that bringing Russini on board would require zero deliberation. The New York Times recently reported that she was earning close to $800,000 a year as The Athletic's senior NFL insider before everything unravelled. Portnoy isn't treating any of that history as a dealbreaker.Would Dave Portnoy really hire Dianna Russini at Barstool Sports?Apparently, yes, without hesitation."No-brainer, if she wanted to work here, we'd do it," Dave Portnoy said plainly. He went further, framing the entire situation in practical terms rather than moral ones. "An affair is not like a murder. It's bad, but I'm not in the family. She'll land somewhere, and you know, if people who have affairs are never allowed to work again in this country, you're gonna lose a significant amount of the workforce. It is obviously really sad, but at the same time, that's not like a capital offense that should end somebody's professional career."That's classic Portnoy, direct, unapologetic, and calibrated to generate the exact reaction it got. Social media lit up almost immediately. Some agreed that Barstool was the logical next stop for Dianna Russini. Others were more pointed. FanSided's Ernesto Cova wrote on X, "Of course he would. Who would even deny that? It was literally the first thing everyone said would happen. It's up to her to keep proving everyone right and keep stacking cash or save face and not join that hideous empire."NFL writer John Frascella had a different read: "She can go to Barstool… but I still think she's more likely to come back with 'The Dianna Russini Insider Podcast.'"That independent media path has been floated by more than a few people watching this story, including Barstool's own Dan "Big Cat" Katz. Despite Portnoy's enthusiasm, Katz has openly questioned whether Russini would even want to be in the same building as them. "I don't know if she'd want to work with us," he told Front Office Sports in late April. "Because we've made some jokes, and I totally understand, but we have to make the jokes that we make. It sucks that she had to leave her job. I think a lot of it was her own doing."Delaware County Times’ Christiaan DeFranco wrote on X, “Predictable since Day 1. Scum gravitates to scum. Now Outkick will suddenly do a 180 and start backing Russini. This has been a running joke in press boxes for months.”That's the awkward wrinkle here. Portnoy is making the offer publicly, but his own colleagues aren't sure she'd take it.Where does Dianna Russini go from here?That's the real question nobody has an answer to yet.Dianna Russini has remained publicly quiet since her resignation, with no indication she is actively looking for work. The one glimpse into her thinking came through leaked text messages to a New York Times reporter, where she referred to herself as a "former journalist." Whether that was a moment of frustration or a genuine signal about her future is unclear.The Athletic's standards review of her published work is still ongoing, and those findings are expected to be released publicly. Until that report lands, there's a ceiling on how many credible outlets can seriously pursue her. Barstool doesn't operate under that kind of constraint, which is partly why Portnoy can afford to be this vocal while others stay quiet.PFN analyst Terry Biggs put it bluntly: "Russini will find a home at Barstool or Dan Le Batard's show. She will conduct a teary interview. However, her reputation inside the league is shot. She may become an NFL commentator, but this scandal is now her entire legacy."Portnoy has thrown an open door in her direction. Whether Russini walks through it, or finds a completely different path, is a story that's still being written.