A Troy Aikman reunion with the Cowboys has fans dreaming big this week. Aikman is without an extension at ESPN for now, and Jerry Jones has addressed the idea of a reunion in the team’s front office. However, former ESPN and Cowboys insider Ed Werder isn’t too hopeful about the idea.
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“Well, Dan, you and I know that ESPN never lets valuable people leave the company,” he said on The Dan Patrick Show. “So it’s quite surprising to both of us, I think, that Troy Aikman’s not returning on an extension and going to be Joe Buck’s partner after these 25 years they’ve had together.
“… Jerry said again this morning, he’d be open to the idea of Troy joining the franchise. But I just don’t see it, Dan. … Troy thinks he had half a career because Jerry wasn’t a good general manager. And the thing he’s done poorest of all as a general manager is hire coaches. … We’ve seen Troy go, you know, be involved with, as a consultant, hiring coaches and the general manager of Miami.
“I just don’t think they’re philosophically compatible. So I don’t think it will ever happen,” Werder said on the show.
Jones made his interest clear Tuesday on 105.3 The Fan in Dallas, a day after the Cowboys beat the Eagles 38-21 on Monday Night Football, where Aikman was working the broadcast. Asked whether he would give Aikman a significant role, Jones answered, “Yes, I could and would.”
Jones also praised Aikman at last week’s owners meeting, calling him capable of just about anything in football except playing again. He also called a Cowboys role “very possible” and said Aikman is “certainly qualified” for an NFL front office.
Aikman hasn’t turned the idea down entirely either. He told Cowboys Roundtable’s Mike Fisher that if an opportunity does come up with the franchise, he’d have a “hard time not taking a good look at that.” However, the former quarterback admitted that their relationship is “complicated.”
The second half of Aikman’s career is where the resentment might be arising from. In 2000, Jones sent Seattle two first-round picks, in 2000 and 2001, for receiver Joey Galloway, who tore his ACL in his first game with Dallas. Seattle used the picks on Shaun Alexander and Koren Robinson. The Cowboys finished 5-11 that season, and Aikman, who was embattled with back issues by this time, was released by the team before he announced his retirement. Safe to say that one did not age well.
Aikman has critiqued Jones’ handling of the team before as well. In 2019, he told 1310 The Ticket in Dallas that being part of the Cowboys front office might not be for him.
“It’s unlikely Jerry will ever bring somebody in who can help this team in that regard because he’s been real stubborn and steadfast that he’s the one in charge,” he said.
“I think in a lot of ways, until that changes, this team is going to have some problems. But would he ever ask me to come be a part of it? That would be a real leap of faith. I don’t envision that happening and I don’t envision that happening at any point, quite honestly, no matter who’s in charge out there.”
However, Aikman is now at a crossroads. Jones has expressed a solid interest in reuniting with his former quarterback, and his future behind the mic is up in the air. Aikman believes he will be a “free agent” after this season without a contract at hand. ESPN also doesn’t seem to be acting on an extension for him despite the details that have been reported of the alleged split.
According to Puck, Troy Aikman has reportedly considered colleague and longtime broadcast booth partner Joe Buck signing his extension and not knowing of it as a “betrayal.” The two, of course, had a fight before the Rams-Bills game this season.
Aikman’s probable exit from ESPN will mark an end to the running of the longest tenured broadcasting duo for the NFL. With positions on other networks also not freed up at the moment (CBS Sports has made J.J. Watt a permanent replacement for Tony Romo), Aikman is already predicting an end to a glorious career behind the mic.
Troy Aikman fears ESPN career could be taken away
Aikman had once said that it was a disappointment that ESPN and he couldn’t agree on a deal before the season began. However, amid rumors of his exit picking up steam, the veteran announcer isn’t holding back.
“As I’m into my last year at ESPN, I’m realizing that this is something that could very well be taken away from me,” Aikman told Fisher. “For the first time, I’m realizing how much I really do – I’ve always enjoyed it. I’ve always known that. But until you risk having something taken away from you, I think sometimes you tend to maybe take things for granted.
Aikman has spent more than 20 years behind the mic, and is easily one of the most-respected voices among football fans. Bidding the booth goodbye will not only be tough for him, but for fans too. ESPN employees Stephen A. Smith and Michael Wilbon have also voiced their hope for Aikman retaining his job.
“I sincerely hope that we don’t lose him as a person that’s employed by ESPN, but if we do lose him, I want to wish him all the happiness in the world if he decides to go elsewhere,” Smith said. “Because football must have Troy Aikman’s voice in it, he’s that special of a guy and a football mind, and I sincerely hope that we keep him.”
“You know who calls a game better than Troy Aikman, knuckleheads? NOBODY calls a game better than Troy Aikman!” Wilbon said on Pardon The Interruption.