Joe Buck and Troy Aikman will be on the call of ESPN’s “Monday Night Football” broadcast between the San Francisco 49ers and Washington Commanders tonight.
While the announcers are typically background noise for some, Buck and Aikman will be at the forefront of most fans’ minds on Monday evening. There’s “tension” growing in the “Monday Night Football” broadcasting booth.
Last week, Ryan Glasspiegel of Front Office Sports reported that Buck and Aikman had a heated argument about the latter’s contract situation during Week 5. Buck signed a $100 million contract extension at ESPN earlier this year, while Aikman remains on an expiring contract, unlikely to be back in 2027.
Aikman has addressed the tension, basically admitting that he’ll be gone in 2027.
“There’s probably a time and a place for all that to be discussed. I don’t know if now is the time,” Aikman said on the radio in Dallas last week.
“I don’t know that 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 year does hold, and the Super Bowl and all that, and where my next landing spot may be.”
© Jerome Miron-Imagn Images.
As the “tension” is growing, some are speculating that Aikman could even make a “crazy” exit before the season ends. He is under contract through the Super Bowl, which will air on ESPN.
Pro Football Talk’s Mike Florio is saying that a “crazy” early exit cannot be ruled out at this point.
“Of course, it may not be Aikman’s choice. ESPN could yank him from the broadcast whenever it chooses, if the situation continues to deteriorate. Sure, they’d need to replace him on the fly. But they currently have a small army of NFL voices on the payroll — many of whom would drive a lawnmower through a minefield for a chance to fill the spot,” he shared.
“It’s hard to imagine Aikman walking away in a Super Bowl year. But if he becomes sufficiently disillusioned with the situation, it can’t be ruled out.”
ESPN, meanwhile, is believed to be playing a “dangerous” game.
“Here is where ESPN is playing a dangerous game of chicken. They tried for YEARS to fix wayward booths after Mike Tirico left and Buck/Aikman together did that for them. If Aikman walks, what if Buck and his new partner don’t have the same excellent chemistry?” he reported.
ESPN could be eyeing someone like Greg Olsen, or Sean McVay, or maybe even Travis Kelce, but the Buck-Aikman booth has been really strong.
Why is ESPN risking breaking that up?
