ESPN Warned It's Making A Big Mistake With Troy Aikman

To the surprise of NFL fans around the country, it’s starting to sound like Troy Aikman and ESPN will go their separate ways in the offseason.

A month ago, ESPN signed Joe Buck to a six-year extension worth around $108 million. Aikman, on the other hand, has not yet received a new deal. According to Ryan Glasspiegel of Front Office Sports, there’s tension brewing between Buck and Aikman due to their respective contract situations.

“On Monday night, before the Rams took on the Bills at SoFi Stadium, the site of this season’s Super Bowl, Buck “broke the ice” on this unspoken tension, and he and Aikman had an argument, a source said. It ultimately de-escalated, and the two had a broadcast in which viewers never would have been able to decipher that something was amiss,” Glasspiegel wrote.

During an appearance on KTCK The Ticket in Dallas this Thursday morning, the Hall of Fame quarterback addressed his future at ESPN.

“There’s probably a time and a place for all that. I don’t know if now is the time. I don’t know if it’s hard to figure out kind of what happened,” Aikman said. “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.”

Would letting go of Aikman would be a mistake?

NFL fans and media members understand ESPN has to do what’s best for itself from a business standpoint, but the thought of Aikman and Buck splitting up is simply off-putting.

“Aikman and Buck are so great together and have such a long history,” RJ Ochoa of Blogging The Boys said. “I’m legit shocked that things are a bit off in this way. Have to believe it gets worked out. Troy is so good.”

“Getting Buck and Aikman together helped make Monday Night Football feel like a big deal and a big game again. They’re gonna ruin it and put McAfee in the booth, aren’t they? Is that where this is going?” one person asked.

“I hope they can work it out,” a second person wrote. “McAfee is not the answer.”

“I don’t think Troy Aikman is particularly great as a lead analyst anymore but this will be bittersweet. Joe and Troy have been the constant booth pairing ever since I started watching football. It will be weird to see them apart,” another person said.

We’ll see if ESPN and Aikman settle their differences in the coming months.