Given the backlash the former Dallas Cowboys quarterback Troy Aikman has been facing in the broadcasting booth, it’s hard not to wonder where the former 3x Super Bowl champion stands. His latest comments hinted that his time with ESPN is soon going to come to an end. That’s when the Cowboys owner Jerry Jones vouched for Aikman, hinting at the fact that Dallas might open the door for him.
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“No, I think when I said no, Troy is very capable, and he’s so, really, relatively speaking, he’s in his youth as careers go,” shared Jones when asked about Aikman’s viability as an NFL front-office executive. “And he’s very capable of doing any one of a number of things, certainly anything to do with football. I don’t know of any area, short of getting back out on the field. I don’t know of any area that Troy wouldn’t be qualified and competent to go into.”
Per Mark Maske of Front Office Sports, Jones even added while leaving a two-day meeting amongst NFL owners in New York City: “I think the world of Troy. And I’m always very interested and so proud of what he’s become, the person as well as the career he’s having. And I’m proud of that, and it feels good to have been with him early as a player. So, yes, I pay a lot of attention to him.”
We have seen the Miami Dolphins counting on Aikman as a temporary consultant as they looked to replace longtime GM Chris Grier. Even though Aikman did not have prior front-office experience, they still counted on him. Then why not Dallas? But Jones might be waiting for the perfect time to bring him back to the Cowboys camp, and he can now finally see the green signal.
Jones’ latest statement about Aikman came after the former Dallas quarterback dropped a surprising statement when asked about his contract status with ESPN on Dallas-area sports-talk radio station KTCK.
“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,” he said.
Aikman is in the last year of his five-year ESPN contract, earning $18 million annually for his work on “Monday Night Football” and playoff broadcasts. He is also scheduled to call Super Bowl LXI in February as ESPN prepares for its first Super Bowl production.
ESPN had not formally offered the former Cowboys quarterback a contract extension. What rubs him more is the fact that his Monday Night Football co-host, Joe Buck, recently agreed to a six-year extension worth more than $100 million, keeping him at ESPN through the network’s next Super Bowl broadcast in 2031.
Not just his ESPN career, Aikman’s consultancy job in Miami is also up in the air.
“It’s not known to what extent, if at all, Aikman continues to advise the Dolphins based on his relationships with owner Stephen Ross, coach Jeff Hafley, and general manager Jon-Eric Sullivan,” wrote Maske of Front Office Sports. “But if that’s occurring, it’s not a formal arrangement, according to the source, who told FOS that Aikman’s official consulting role with the Dolphins was limited to the team’s searches that resulted in the hirings of Sullivan and Hafley this past offseason.”
What better timing for Jones to bring Aikman back? His vouching is one of the biggest hints on how things are taking shape between Dallas and the former quarterback, who played with the team from 1989 to 2000.