Troy Aikman Discusses Departure From Fox: ‘Never Made An Offer’

Troy Aikman the broadcaster generates a lot of feelings from fans of football. 

There are those who can’t stand him, paired next to Joe Buck, claiming that he has a bias toward his former team, the Dallas Cowboys. Then there are those who love his style of announcing, providing a knowledge of the game from a former quarterback’s perspective. 

I’ve always been in the second group, enjoying every broadcast in which Aikman is involved. I’ve found his timing to be impeccable, associating his voice with Sundays during the fall. 

In February, The New York Post reported that it was expected that Aikman would be leaving Fox, his home of 21 seasons, for a lucrative contract with ESPN and Monday Night Football. 

As reported by Andrew Marchand, the deal with ESPN is for five years and approaching Tony Romo money, which is $17.5 million per year with CBS. ESPN has yet to officially announce the move. 

On Tuesday, Aikman discussed his departure from Fox for the bright lights of Monday Night Football, saying that he “never would have imagined” the move six months ago on a recent radio appearance on 1310 The Ticket in Dallas.  

“It is a strange set of circumstances that led me to the point where I’m at now, and to not be back at Fox,” Aikman told The Ticket. “Which I never would have envisioned that happening six months ago and so it’s kind of strange how negotiations went six months ago. When we couldn’t really reach what I felt was a fair value, I was able to negotiate an opt-out after six months, and that’s what allowed me to be a free-agent, if you will.”

“Then Fox never jumped into the game,” Aikman continued. “They stayed where they were and never made an offer. In fact, I didn’t have any conversations with Fox, until I got a call to congratulate me on my new deal. So that was a decision that they made and it’s fine.”

Aikman reportedly worked an opt-out into his contract prior to the 2021 NFL season and said he was surprised that Fox didn’t “jump into the game,” saying that his initial plan was to stay with the network.

“Yes, yes. And I don’t know what their answer is,” Aikman said when asked if he was surprised that Fox didn’t make an offer. “I don’t know if they had a plan. I don’t know what their thoughts were, to be quite honest with you. I haven’t had that conversation with anyone, surprisingly. But to answer your question, I was surprised. Because the opt-out for me, what I had hoped would come of that, is if there was interest in me from other networks, knowing that Amazon was going to be taking over Thursday night, knowing that ESPN potentially could be a player, that if there was interest then there would be a correction on Fox’s part. Not that they had to match anything, but there would be a correction based on what I had agreed to.” 

In a bombshell report on Friday, the Post reported that Buck is expected to leave Fox to be the main voice of Monday Night Football next to Aikman, which Aikman alluded to in his interview with The Ticket on Tuesday. 

“I wouldn’t rule that out,” Aikman said when asked whether there’s a chance that Buck could join him at ESPN. “I wouldn’t rule that out. Which I would love. We’ve been together for 20 years, he’s one of my closest friends.”

This article has been updated with additional information. 

Joe Morgan is the Sports Reporter for The Daily Wire. Most recently, Morgan covered the Clippers, Lakers and the NBA for Sporting News. Send your sports questions to [email protected].

The views expressed in this piece are the author’s own and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.

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