Troy Aikman opens up about argument with Joe Buck, ESPN contract uncertainty
The ESPN “Monday Night Football” broadcast booth appears to be in flux at the moment, as not only does Troy Aikman have an uncertain future at the network, he is also apparently feuding with his broadcast partner, Joe Buck.
Aikman is in the final year of his contract at ESPN and it looks like he could be out after 2026 with no agreement in place between the two sides.
Meanwhile, Buck reportedly signed a new six-year deal with ESPN last month, which obviously creates an awkward situation that is rumored to be creating tension between the two.
What makes this situation more interesting is the report that Aikman and Buck, who have been partners for a long time dating back to their days together at FOX, reportedly had an argument on Monday when Buck tried to “break the ice” before the game between the Buffalo Bills and Los Angeles Rams, according to Front Office Sports’ Ryan Glasspiegel.
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Troy Aikman address Joe Buck tension
Hall of Fame quterback Troy Aikman stands with his Monday Night Football Broadcast announcer Joe Buck before a game between the Pittsburgh Steelers and New York Giants at Acrisure Stadium. Credit: Barry Reeger-Imagn Images via Reuters Connect (Reuters)
On Thursday, Aikman was a guest on 96.7 The Ticket and was asked about the rumored argument with Buck.
Aikman didn’t go into detail about it, nor did he flat-out admit it happened, but he didn’t deny it, either.
“There’s probably a time and a place for all that. I don’t know if now is the time,” Aikman said (H/T Joseph Hoyt of The Dallas Morning News). “I don’t know if it’s hard to figure out kind of what happened.”
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It really isn’t hard to figure out. Aikman clearly isn’t happy that his partner has a new deal and he does not, and that’s probably just the baseline of the issue.
Troy Aikman opens up about ESPN contract
Television commentator Troy Aikman speaks before the game between the Dallas Cowboys and the Arizona Cardinals at AT&T Stadium. Credit: Jerome Miron-Imagn Images via Reuters Connect (Reuters)
Along with addressing the Buck situation, Aikman also talked about his contract situation with ESPN.
By the sounds of it, the Dallas Cowboys legend does not expect to be back in 2027.
“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,” Aikman said. “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.”
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It remains unclear what ESPN will do if it lets Aikman walk, but right now that appears to be the strategy the network is going with, as there have been no reports of contract talks between the two sides.
Details of the Buck-Aikman argument
Commentators Joe Buck, left, and Troy Aikman are mic-ed up before a regular season NFL football matchup. The Cincinnati Bengals defeated the Jacksonville Jaguars 34-31 in overtime. [Corey Perrine/Florida Times-Union] Credit: USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect (Reuters)
According to Glasspiegel, the argument between Buck and Aikman occurred prior to the Monday night game between the Bills and Rams.
There was apparently a tension between the two broadcasters over their respective contract situations that Buck tried to address, and that’s what led to their argument.
“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,” Glasspiegel wrote.
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“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 added.
Buck and Aikman will continue working together through the rest of the season and are set to team up for ESPN’s first-ever Super Bowl broadcast in February.
After that, all bets are off.
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Source: sports.yahoo.com — article syndicated from the publisher’s feed; all rights remain with the original publisher.