Troy Aikman expected his ESPN future to be settled before the 2026 NFL season. It was not.Now, with the Hall of Fame quarterback entering the final year of his contract, Jason Whitlock has floated a dramatic alternative for “Monday Night Football”: Pat McAfee and Peyton Manning joining Joe Buck in place of Aikman.
Why is Troy Aikman’s ESPN future still unresolved?
Aikman joined ESPN alongside Buck in 2022 after signing a reported five-year, $90 million contract. The pair had already spent two decades together at Fox before making the move to “Monday Night Football.”Buck has since secured his own new deal. EssentiallySports reported that the play-by-play broadcaster agreed to a six-year, $108 million extension.Aikman has not received the same resolution.Speaking with Richard Deitsch last month, Aikman said he expected his contract situation to be handled before the season began.“I thought something would be done prior to the start of this 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.”He added that he had not spoken with ESPN executives about what Buck’s extension meant for him.“I’ve had no conversation with anyone from Bristol as far as what this means for me.”Buck has made his preference clear.During an appearance on Philadelphia’s 97.5 The Fanatic, he said he remains hopeful that ESPN and Aikman will reach an agreement.“I legitimately love the guy like a brother. We’re basically the same age; I’m 57, he’s 59. We’ve both been through divorce. We’re both girl dads. 25 years, you’re sharing a lot of life together. Forget games and in the booth and all that stuff.”Buck later added: “I’m obviously hopeful, to say the least, that something gets done.”ESPN has not announced a replacement plan.Josh Krulewitz, ESPN’s executive vice president of communications, told EssentiallySports that the network would not discuss talent contracts before its upcoming Super Bowl broadcast.“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,” Krulewitz said. “To that end, we won’t be addressing talent contract specifics before the Super Bowl.”
Could Pat McAfee and Peyton Manning actually replace Troy Aikman on ‘Monday Night Football ’?
The McAfee-Manning scenario currently comes from Whitlock, not ESPN.On his “Fearless With Jason Whitlock” podcast, Whitlock pointed to Aikman’s stalled negotiations and McAfee’s growing presence across ESPN programming.“Troy Aikman hasn’t got a new contract. His talks are on hold,” Whitlock said. “Pat McAfee, they’ve been sprinkling everywhere on ESPN. Why not Monday Night Football? He was a player in the National Football League. But let me put this twist on it. I wouldn’t put Pat McAfee opposite Joe Buck. But I would put Pat McAfee and Peyton Manning opposite Joe Buck.”Whitlock later called the idea a “real possibility” and argued that the pairing could work because McAfee and Manning already know each other from their time with the Indianapolis Colts.McAfee’s role at ESPN has continued to expand. He joined the “Monday Night Countdown” crew this season while remaining one of the network’s most visible personalities.Manning already has an established relationship with ESPN through the “ManningCast,” which he hosts with his brother Eli Manning during select “Monday Night Football” games.Still, there is an important distinction. No report cited here says ESPN is negotiating with McAfee and Manning to replace Aikman.Whitlock is proposing the pairing while Aikman’s contract remains unsettled.That uncertainty matters because Buck and Aikman have called games together since 2002. Their partnership includes more than 290 regular-season games, over 40 playoff games and six Super Bowls.Aikman has also said he wants that partnership to continue.Asked whether Buck’s extension would affect his own decision, Aikman said: “Would I want to continue to work with Joe Buck moving down the road? 100 percent.”For now, ESPN has Aikman in the booth and no announced successor. The intrigue comes from what happens after the season, especially if the network and its longtime analyst still cannot agree on a new contract.