All signs are pointing to the breakup of Joe Buck and Troy Aikman after ESPN airs its first Super Bowl next February. Front Office Sports first reported that Buck and Aikman had an argument in the booth on Oct. 12, before they proceeded to call Bills-Rams with their characteristic professionalism.

The tension between the broadcast partners of 25 years centers on Buck having already re-signed with ESPN, while Aikman remains without a formal contract offer. If Aikman and ESPN do part ways, these are the leading candidates to work as the analyst(s) in the Monday Night Football booth alongside Buck:

The Favorites

Greg Olsen

Olsen is the safest bet for ESPN to have zero issues in the announce booth through its next Super Bowl in 2031. He already called a Super Bowl for Fox during Tom Brady’s gap year between the NFL and analyst work, and excelled alongside his longtime friend Kevin Burkhardt. He currently works on Fox’s second team alongside Joe Davis.

The 41-year-old former Pro Bowl tight end previously had advanced talks to join the Monday Night Football booth in 2018, but opted to return to the Panthers. ESPN ultimately went with Jason Witten at the time. Olsen has made it clear he liked being a No. 1 analyst—and will be one again.

Peyton and Eli Manning

Peyton Manning has long been the NFL announcing white whale. ESPN chairman Jimmy Pitaro pulled the ultimate coup getting the Manning brothers to do their Monday Night Football simulcast, and landing them was one of the first building blocks in repairing the network’s previously strained relationship with the league. Given that the 50-year-old and 45-year-old former Super Bowl winners have school-age kids, it’s a question of whether they’d be willing to take on the rigors of traveling to the games versus filming the simulcast in the comforts of their own homes (or, in Peyton’s case, a friend’s garage.)

Still Active

Travis Kelce

Kelce is having a renaissance on the field this season as the Chiefs have started 5–0 and the future Hall-of-Fame tight end looks like his former self. The three-time Super Bowl winner could continue playing for multiple seasons if he continues to perform at this level.

Nevertheless, as Taylor Swift’s husband, the 37-year-old Kelce has a Q score that virtually nobody in football this side of Tom Brady can reach, and is expected to be coveted as a broadcaster when his career concludes. For the amount of money he is rumored to be seeking, he would have a far greater shot at commanding it in the broadcast booth versus as a studio analyst. There are not a lot of these booth jobs available at this time, with Fox, NBC, and CBS locked up for the foreseeable future.

Sean McVay

The Rams coach does not have the most positive body language after his team’s 2–4 start. Los Angeles was supposed to be a lock for the Super Bowl; now it might not make the playoffs. McVay almost quit coaching for the media after a disastrous 5–12 season in 2022. Will history repeat itself if McVay’s Rams miss the NFL Playoffs?

The 40-year-old wunderkind has a quick analytical brain and an outgoing personality, so while nobody is a sure thing in the announce booth, he has clear high upside. Amazon has coveted McVay since it began exclusively airing NFL games in 2022, so ESPN would have competition if it sought to go in this direction.

Matthew Stafford

There have been industry whispers that ESPN has interest in Stafford when he finishes his career with the Rams. The reigning league MVP signed an extension with the team through next season, and it is unlikely he would leave about $50 million on the table. However, the Rams can get out of the deal before the new league year if they decide to blow things up.

The 38-year-old Stafford is seen at this time as more likely to be a studio analyst than a game color commentator, but he should be in the mix for a broadcasting job if this is his final NFL season.

Realistic Options

Jason Kelce

Kelce is set to call four live games for ESPN/NFL Network this season with Kurt Warner and Dave Pasch. It’s yet another arrow in the quiver for a multimedia talent who stars on both TV with Monday Night Countdown and in audio with his New Heights podcast, which he co-hosts with his younger brother, Travis.

Since signing with ESPN ahead of the 2025 season, the network has continued to experiment with how it uses the older Kelce brother, who isn’t necessarily a traditional broadcaster. Would MNF fit the bill?

Kurt Warner

Warner has perpetually slid under the radar as one of the more talented game callers in the sport. In addition to the NFL Network slate, Warner is the color commentator for Westwood One’s radio coverage of Monday Night Football. But the 55-year-old Warner hasn’t played in the NFL since 2009. The trend is for networks/streamers to hire younger analysts—just as CBS did when it recently replaced Tony Romo with J.J. Watt

Three-Man Booth Possibilities

Louis Riddick

The former NFL safety and pro scout has been knocking on the door for bigger TV jobs at ESPN, and around the league, for years. Don’t forget, Riddick was in a three-man MNF booth with Steve Levy and Brian Griese from 2020-21 before giving way to the Aikman-Buck tandem in 2022. He currently works on both ESPN college football and NFL Network games alongside Bob Wishusen.

Jason McCourty

The pride of Rutgers University has had a meteoric rise since joining ESPN ahead of the 2024 season, appearing regularly on studio shows like NFL Live, Get Up, First Take, and SportsCenter. He’d have a much bigger spotlight in the broadcast booth than he gets in his current role on the Monday Night Countdown pregame show .

Long Shots

Luke Kuechly

He’s young (35), telegenic, and already a Pro Football Hall of Famer. The former Panthers linebacker scored a one-year deal to call Netflix’s five-game package this season. But bigger things could be ahead for this gold jacket once he gets more TV reps.

Tony Romo

There was a time back in 2019 that ESPN would have opened the vault for the ex-Cowboys quarterback. Yes, Romo is damaged goods after leaving CBS Sports following an OWI arrest. But while his broadcasting future may be cloudy, his ex-partner, Jim Nantz, thinks he eventually wants back in the game. It is highly unlikely that his next opportunity would be as high-visibility as the MNF booth.

The post Ranking Troy Aikman’s Likeliest ESPN Replacements appeared first on Front Office Sports.

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