Former NFL quarterback and longtime ESPN NFL broadcaster Troy Aikman is hinting that this may be his last season in the network’s broadcast booth alongside partner Joe Buck.
The one-time Dallas Cowboys star and three-time Super Bowl winner has been partnered with Buck since 2002. He also moved to ESPN with Buck in 2022 to anchor the network’s Monday Night Football coverage, but after a reported spat with Buck on Thursday, Aikman is now saying he may be leaving ESPN, the New York Post reported.
Buck and Aikman reportedly had a disagreement in the booth after ESPN handed Buck a new six-year contract while leaving Aikman without any talk of a new deal on his contract, which ends this season.
Their tête-à-tête reportedly occurred before this week’s game, but it didn’t stop the pair from conducting themselves professionally during the game.
Still, it appears Aikman has taken the hint that ESPN might not offer him a new contract at the end of the season. In his comments to 96.7 The Ticket, he also didn’t deny that he and Buck got into it.
“There’s probably a time and a place for all that. I don’t know if now is the time,” Aikman told the radio station. “I don’t know if it’s hard to figure out kind of what happened. I’ll broadcast through this season, and I’ll be a free agent at the end of the year and kind of see what happens. I’m looking forward to whatever the rest of this season does hold and the Super Bowl and all that and where my next landing spot may be.”
Buck signed a six-year deal with ESPN worth about $108 million, but according to Aikman, the cable sports network hasn’t even contacted him about extending his current contract. The broadcaster’s deal ends after the upcoming Super Bowl.
ESPN has been cutting costs aggressively. In July, ESPN launched another round of layoffs, including top names such as Karl Ravech and Tom Pelissero. And before that, in April, the cable network shed 30 more employees after an “unexpected revenue dip.”
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