Joe Buck and Troy Aikman were back in the ESPN broadcast booth on Monday Night Football – a week after an alleged clash between the longtime partners.
Buck, 57, and Aikman, 59, have worked together since 2002 but reports claimed they had an argument as uncertainty reigns over Aikman’s future with the network.
They both joined ESPN in the 2022 offseason, signing big deals to leave Fox. Those contracts expired at the end of this season but, though Buck has signed a big-money deal to remain with the network, Aikman’s future is up in the air.
Ahead of Monday night’s clash between the San Francisco 49ers and Washington Commanders, cameras cut to the pair in the broadcast booth. Neither mentioned the alleged argument or displayed any obvious animosity. But many NFL fans were still convinced they spotted lingering tension between the pair.
‘Troy Aikman looks like he hates Joe Buck now,’ one wrote. ‘It’s so awkward watching Buck and Aikman right now,’ added another.
‘The disdain that Joe Buck and Aikman have is obvious,’ a third said, while a fourth claimed: ‘It looks TENSE in the booth with Buck and Aikman.’
Joe Buck and Troy Aikman were back in the ESPN broadcast booth on Monday Night Football
The longtime broadcast partners reportedly had an argument before a recent MNF game
Last month, it was confirmed that Buck will continue as the voice of ‘Monday Night Football’ into the 2030s after he signed a new, $108 million deal worth a reported $15 million to $18 million a year.
But in recent days, Aikman has hinted he will leave ESPN at the end of the NFL season. The former Dallas Cowboys quarterback also addressed his reported clash with Buck.
According to Front Office Sports, Buck ‘broke the ice’ with Aikman on unspoken hostility before last week’s game between the Buffalo Bills and Los Angeles Rams.
It’s claimed the pair then had an argument that ultimately de-escalated before they called the game at SoFi Stadium without showing any noticeable signs of tension.
‘There’s probably a time and a place for all that. I don’t know if now is the time. I don’t know if it’s hard to figure out kind of what happened,’ Aikman told 96.7 The Ticket in Dallas-Fort Worth.
‘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. I’m looking forward to whatever the rest of this season does hold and the Super Bowl and all that and where my next landing spot may be.’
His five-year, $90 million contract is set to expire after he calls the Super Bowl alongside Buck in February. And Aikman recently acknowledged he has not discussed what comes next.
‘I thought something would be done prior to the start of this season,’ Aikman said on the Sports Media with Richard Deitsch podcast last month.
Buck and Aikman are the NFL’s longest-running commentary pairing, now in their 25th season
‘I’ve never gone into a last year of a contract ever since I signed with the Dallas Cowboys. So I thought that it would be done. It’s not.
‘When it might get done, if it gets done, is anybody’s guess, and it’s just not something that I’m really putting a lot of energy into.’
Aikman said there is ‘no question’ that working with Buck is a factor in his future.
‘How much of that is my decision, I guess is yet to be determined,’ Aikman added. ‘Would I like to continue working with Joe Buck moving down the road? 100 percent.’
Both Aikman and Buck are represented by the same agency, CAA, but have different agents.
Buck and Aikman started their 25th season together, making them the longest-running commentary team in NFL history, with the Kansas City Chiefs’ win over the Denver Broncos on Monday Night Football in Week 1.
