How NFL Exec Really Feels About Troy Aikman, Joe Buck’s ESPN Drama, Perceived Booth Tension

The drama surrounding Troy Aikman and Joe Buck’s future with ESPN isn’t going away anytime soon.

A week ago, Aikman appeared to confirm his reported rift with Buck over Buck receiving a long-term offer from the network while Aikman was seemingly iced out. On Monday Night Football between the 49ers and Commanders—their first booth appearance since news of their “unspoken tension”—Aikman and Buck appeared to get along just fine, with a handful of viewers picking up some awkward vibes between the two of them. For the most part, though, they did their job professionally and behaved as usual in front of the cameras.

MORE: Troy Aikman’s Next Career Move Is an Obvious One

Those cameras will remain on Aikman and Buck all season long, including during ESPN’s first-ever production of the Super Bowl in Los Angeles. Months away from America’s biggest sporting event of the year, NFL Executive Vice President and Chief Media Officer Hans Schroeder reportedly isn’t worried about the celebrated TV duo performing in February.

“No concern,” Schroeder said of Aikman and Buck’s relationship in the booth, via Front Office Sports’ Mark Maske. “I don’t know if you watched the game on Monday night. It was an incredible game, right? It was an incredible game and incredible coverage by Joe and Troy, just like they always do.

“... I think the fans are deserving of first-class game production, which Joe and Troy have, I think, going back to ’02 or something was their first year, a history of doing that as well as anyone. And I think you’ll continue to see them do that as well as anyone. I thought it was awesome Monday night. And so we’re incredibly excited about the year ... and the Super Bowl and their coverage and getting them back as far as ESPN’s first ever and ABC’s in a long time. They’re going to do an unbelievable job.”

This season marks the first time ESPN will produce and carry the Super Bowl; the big game will also air on ABC for the first time since 2006.

Troy Aikman’s simmering feud with Joe Buck doesn’t worry the NFL ahead of ESPN’s Super Bowl production

In some ways, last Monday night’s 49ers-Commanders broadcast was a vintage Buck-Aikman performance as any. Buck delivered his steady, straight-laced play-by-play commentary with the occasional humorous quip while Aikman tore into NFL analytics.

“[49ers coach Kyle Shanahan] said it’s in the equation, but he’s been been calling plays for almost 20 years in this league, and there’s a lot of gut feel that he uses in spots like this,” Buck said as San Francisco faced a fourth down in the first quarter.

“Yeah, I agree, and I think analytics is a good way to lose your job as a head coach,” Aikman said. “I think you’ve got to be smart about it. Kyle certainly is. The analytics, by the way, does say go for it, but as you mention, it’s not something that Kyle Shanahan always pays that much attention to. More gut than anything else.”

But away from the mics and cameras, the fact of the matter is that Aikman and Buck have conflicting contract situations, and the broadcasting pair will likely remain a hot-topic national storyline as the Super Bowl nears. Buck reportedly locked in a six-year, $108 million extension that will keep him around for the upcoming big game as well as ESPN’s next one in 2031. Aikman’s five-year, $90 million contract with ESPN runs out after the Super Bowl.

Aikman and Buck are currently in their 25th season together, good for the longest-running broadcast duo in NFL history (surpassing Pat Summerall and John Madden’s 21-year working relationship). Their prolific history speaks for itself, as they jointly called six Super Bowls at FOX before they both left for ESPN ahead of the 2022 campaign. It’s almost impossible to believe that up until this point, the two analysts haven’t really endured any kind of public spat or feud.

Two decades later, one of the NFL’s most well-established TV booth pairings could soon be headed for a bitter divorce. If this is truly the end of the road, Aikman and Buck will hopefully find a way to keep up appearances on-air and ensure things go swimmingly in what could be the last big game they’ll call together for the foreseeable future.

“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,” Aikman said. “But 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 might be.”