Troy Aikman Admits He's Frustrated By Contract Situation At ESPN

Sports admin September 20, 2026 0 Comments

Troy Aikman Admits He’s Frustrated By Contract Situation At ESPN

As Joe Buck inked a longterm contract extension at ESPN worth nine figures, his broadcasting partner, Troy Aikman, is not happy with his own situation.

Aikman, 59, announced that he’s personally unhappy with his own contract situation, right before kickoff of the NFL’s Week 2 games on Sunday afternoon. Aikman and Buck are coming off a Monday night Chiefs vs. Broncos broadcast. The Rams will be hosting the Giants in “Monday Night Football” in Week 2.

The former Dallas Cowboys quarterback announced that he’s personally frustrated by the situation. Aikman, who came over to ESPN with Buck from Fox Sports in 2022, was hoping that his contract situation would be figured out by now.

“I thought something would be done prior to the start of this season,” Aikman said during a recent interview with sports media reporter Richard Deitsch, per Sports Media Watch. “I’ve never gone into the last year of a contract ever since I signed with the Dallas Cowboys. And so I thought that it would be done. It’s not. When it might get done, if it gets done, is anyone’s guess. And it’s really not something that I’m putting a lot of energy into.”

Aikman is clearly frustrated, so it’ll be interesting to see how it plays out.

Awful Announcing notes that there could be some serious announcer movement in the years to come.

“There’s expected to be some level of movement in the lead NFL analyst ranks this upcoming offseason. Kirk Herbstreit’s contract with Prime Video is up, and it’s widely expected the Amazon-owned streamer will move on from him and Al Michaels. Additionally, the lead CBS booth is up in the air with Tony Romo’s return looking unlikely and J.J. Watt still looking to prove himself alongside Jim Nantz. That creates some credible opportunities for Aikman to leverage in a negotiation,” they wrote.

Buck excited to remain with ESPN

As Aikman’s future is unclear, Buck is excited to remain with ESPN.

Buck signed a six-year, $108 million contract extension to remain the voice of “Monday Night Football,” according to The Athletic’s Andrew Marchand.

“With this historic season for ESPN now underway, our entire focus is on bringing fans the best possible football coverage, culminating with our first Super Bowl,” Josh Kruleqwitz, executive vice president of communications at ESPN, told The Athletic. “To that end, we won’t be addressing talent contract specifics publicly before the Super Bowl.”

It would be surprising to see ESPN breaking up Buck and Aikman, but with only one of their contract extensions being done, it seems like it’s possible.

This story was originally published September 20, 2026 at 1:07 PM.