Joe Buck and Troy Aikman's damning relationship behind the scenes
Joe Buck and Troy Aikman's damning relationship behind the scenes
David SchneidmanThu, October 29, 2026 at 9:26 PM UTC
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Troy Aikman's time working alongside broadcast partner Joe Buck appears to be nearing an end -Credit:Photo by Todd Rosenberg/Getty Images (Photo by Todd Rosenberg/Getty Images)
Details of Joe Buck and Troy Aikman’s strained relationship continue to come to light as the ESPN broadcasters’ time working together nears a possible end.
Buck and Aikman have spent the last 25 NFL seasons as broadcast partners, with the duo first appearing on FOX Sports in 2002 before transitioning to ESPN in 2022, where they now serve as the commentary team for Monday Night Football.
The pair is set to call Super Bowl LXI on Feb. 14, 2027 from SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles, a contest that now could mark the final NFL game Buck and Aikman ever broadcast together.
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Buck, 57, recently signed a six-year, $108-million contract extension with ESPN to remain the play-by-play voice of Monday Night Football through the 2032 NFL season.
Aikman, meanwhile, has received no such offer. His five-year, $90 million deal signed in 2022 is set to expire after this year’s Super Bowl.
The lack of a new contract offer paired with Buck and ESPN’s alleged coyness throughout the process have evidently upset Aikman, whose attitude towards his longtime colleague has changed in recent weeks.
According to Puck’s Dylan Byers, Aikman never heard about his partner’s extension from Buck or ESPN, prompting the three-time Super Bowl winning quarterback to become “increasingly cold, difficult, short, making comments,” Byers wrote.
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Buck and Aikman have worked together for 25 NFL seasons -Credit:Getty
Per Front Office Sports, Buck then confronted Aikman over his attitude ahead of Week 5’s Monday Night Football clash between the Buffalo Bills and Los Angeles Rams. After breaking the ice, the two “had an argument” that ended in time for them to go live on the air as if nothing had happened.
Ever since that report became public, the spotlight has firmly been on the ESPN duo. Despite the rift becoming common knowledge, neither Buck nor Aikman has addressed the issue on ESPN airwaves, and instead continue to call NFL games as if all is normal.
Both men have been commended for their professionalism for not letting their differences seep through into the broadcast.
Behind the scenes, Buck reportedly apologized to the ESPN production crew one week after the initial argument ahead of the Bills-Rams MNF game.
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Since then, Aikman has appeared on several programs, including local radio in Dallas, and hinted that his time at ESPN is drawing to a close while neglecting to address specific details about his relationship with Buck.
As things stand, the expectation is that Aikman will no longer be Buck’s commentary partner at ESPN come the 2027-28 NFL season.
Whether or not Aikman is offered a color analyst job at another network remains to be seen, especially after CBS tied up lead analyst JJ Watt to a multi-year extension earlier in October.
Weeks prior, Amazon Prime Video did the same with Thursday Night Football color commentator Kirk Herbstreit.
Source: “AOL Sports”
