For more than 20 years, Troy Aikman and Joe Buck have been mainstays in the broadcasting booth for heaps of NFL games. To date, they are the longest-tenured announcer duo in the NFL. But are there cracks developing in this longstanding relationship?
“Glass Break: Joe Buck and Troy Aikman have had tension after Buck got a new ESPN deal and Aikman hasn’t gotten a formal offer,” Front Office Sports’ Ryan Glasspiegel wrote on X. “Buck ‘broke the ice’ on the unspoken tension and the two had an argument in MNF announce booth this week, sources said.”
Glasspiegel wrote that the fight eventually “de-escalated,” and the two carried on like it was just a regular day.
For context, both Buck and Aikman had signed their contracts with ESPN in 2022, which ran for five years. Buck secured an extension this year, while Aikman hasn’t. Aikman hoped that this deal meant that ESPN would also show some “urgency” in negotiating with Aikman, who is in the last year of his five-year contract.
“I thought something would be done prior to the start of this season,” Aikman told Deitsch, according to Pro Football Talk. “I’ve never gone into the last year of a contract ever since I signed with the Dallas Cowboys. And so I thought that it would be done. It’s not. When it might get done, if it gets done, is anyone’s guess. And it’s really not something that I’m putting a lot of energy into.”
While tensions between Aikman and Buck have been trending on social media, Aikman had previously clarified his stance on working with Buck, though that came before the alleged argument, when he talked about his contract situation.
“How much of that is my decision, I guess, is yet to be determined,” Aikman said. “Would I like to continue working with Joe Buck moving down the road? 100 percent.”
Pat McAfee has been linked to this storyline by many. His growth within the network is undeniable, given how his portfolio is increasing. He isn’t going to be replaced anytime soon on College GameDay, given the returns he’s bringing to the network, and McAfee is on Monday Night Countdown for the first time this year, and will also get to host an alt-cast for the Super Bowl this season.
Tying him more to this angle is that McAfee was also reportedly negotiating for a contract that would earn him more than $60 million a year.
Front Office Sports’ Michael McCarthy implied that McAfee’s alt-cast could serve as his pitch to eventually secure a role in the Monday Night Football booth. However, McAfee outright declined the theory.
“This isn’t real,” McAfee commented on the Front Office Sports X post for the story. “There’s been zero conversation about this.”
Now, with the new angle of Buck and Aikman’s alleged fight, fans have brought McAfee to the center of it all.
“They’re going to replace Troy with Pat aren’t they,” one fan wrote. “That would be so bad for MNF.”
“Get ready for Pat on MNF,” another wrote.
“Leave it to the worst network in sports to split these two up. Let me guess? Pat McAfee will be Joe Buck’s partner in 2027?” a fan replied, suggesting that the idea of replacing Aikman is not ideal for the broadcast.
“They are doing everything they can to get Pat in the booth,” one user shared.
“Good thing they can replace Troy Aikman in-house with Pat McAfee,” New England Hockey Journal’s Evan Marinofsky wrote in jest. “A booth of Joe Buck, Pat McAfee and a double shot of whiskey.”
While the report suggests tensions between Aikman and Buck, ESPN’s refusal to negotiate with Aikman until after the Super Bowl makes things more complicated, with McAfee’s name being pushed constantly. Aikman is certainly not happy with ESPN’s delay, but McAfee as his replacement is still an idea hovering without confirmation.