Cowboys legend Troy Aikman says FOX never made offer to keep him

In a recent interview with Sportsradio 86.7 and 1310 The Ticket in Dallas, former Dallas Cowboys quarterback Troy Aikman discussed his departure from FOX Sports. At the end of February, Aikman revealed that he would be leaving FOX after 22 years to join ESPN as the lead analyst for Monday Night Football. The former Cowboy signed a massive five-year, $90 million deal to switch companies.

However, in his interview, Aikman revealed that FOX strangely didn’t even make an offer to keep him at the network. Aikman said he didn’t have conversations with FOX until it was time for them to congratulate him on his new deal with ESPN. The NY Post previously reported that the former Cowboys quarterback signed a four-year, $13.million per year extension ahead of the 2021 football season. However, the broadcaster worked in a potential opt-out if he were to secure a bigger and better deal for another company.

Aikman had this to say about the situation:

"“It is a strange set of circumstances that led me to where I am now and not be back at Fox. And I never would have envisioned that six months ago and so it is strange. When negotiations couldn’t reach, what I felt was fair value, I was able to negotiate an opt-out after six months which allowed me to be a free agent. Then Fox never jumped into the game. Some will look at it and say, ‘Troy ultimately went where the money led him,’ which is not true.”"

Former Cowboys quarterback Troy Aikman said FOX never offered him a contract to stay with the network

Aikman also batted down any rumors that this was all about money. The broadcaster said that his initial plan was to stay at Fox. When they made the decision not to bid on his future, he felt he had to go with the ESPN route.

ESPN technically hasn’t announced the signing officially. Aikman thinks that’s because they don’t yet know who the play-by-play announcer will be for Monday Night Football. There are rumors that the sports network may try and steal Aikman’s partner, Joe Buck. Buck still has a year left on his contract with FOX, but negotiations can be made.

On reuniting with Buck at ESPN, Aikman said, “I wouldn’t rule that out, which I would love.” If Buck isn’t selected, NBC’s Al Michaels is also an option. Michaels is allegedly in talks with Amazon to help with their Thursday Night Football broadcast, but nothing there is official yet.

As far as Aikman’s replacement, many eyes are on a man who is rumored to be a future Cowboys coach: Sean Payton. The former Saints coach claims that he is fully committed to broadcasting and looks forward to working in the booth. Other names include Greg Olsen, Sean McVay (highly unlikely), and Drew Brees.