Joe Buck Signs $108 Million Six-Year Extension With ESPN, Troy Aikman Remains Unsigned

ESPN has secured its Monday Night Football voice for the long haul. Joe Buck agreed to a six-year contract extension worth roughly $108 million, according to Andrew Marchand of The Athletic, who first reported the deal. That works out to about $18 million a year, up from the $15 million annual salary in his previous contract, making him one of ESPN's highest-paid on-air employees.

Buck's original five-year deal, signed when he left FOX for ESPN in 2022, was set to expire after the network's first Super Bowl broadcast this coming February, Super Bowl LXI, which will be played at SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles. His new extension covers that game and stretches to cover ESPN's next Super Bowl assignment in 2031 as well.

ESPN executive vice president of communications Josh Krulewitz confirmed the network's posture on the deal in comments carried by The Athletic: "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. To that end, we won't be addressing talent contract specifics publicly before the Super Bowl."

Buck, 57, had already signaled where he wanted his career to end up. He told Richard Deitsch of Sports Business Journal back in April, "If you reached through my computer screen right now and handed me a contract to continue my time at ESPN, I would sign it without even looking at it. I've loved every second of it and I am hopeful that I'm at ESPN for the rest of my career." He'll be in his early 60s by the time this deal runs out.

Aikman's Deal Still Open

Troy Aikman signed a five-year, $90 million deal with ESPN in 2022 when the pair jumped from FOX together. That contract also ends after the upcoming Super Bowl, and as of now Aikman has not signed an extension.

Aikman has said publicly he wants to stay. In August he told reporters, "I have no plans to leave ESPN. I'm enjoying my broadcasting career as much as I ever have," according to Newsweek. Both Buck and Aikman are represented by the agency CAA, which could use Buck's new $18 million annual figure as leverage in Aikman's negotiations.

Aikman also took on a side role last offseason as a special advisor to the Miami Dolphins during their general manager search, which ended with the team hiring Jon-Eric Sullivan, according to the New York Post. He has previously said he's interested in a general manager job himself, adding a layer of uncertainty to how long he stays in the booth even if ESPN offers him a deal.

Buck and Aikman have called games together for 25 seasons, forming what ESPN and multiple outlets describe as the longest-running broadcast tandem in NFL history, dating back to their partnership at FOX starting in 2002.

A Bigger Shake-Up Brewing

Buck's deal lands amid what could be a wave of broadcast turnover across the league. Amazon's Al Michaels and Kirk Herbstreit, CBS's Ian Eagle, and FOX's Greg Olsen are all reportedly facing contract situations of their own this season, according to the New York Post.

CBS's booth picture is further complicated by Tony Romo, who was placed on leave "until further notice" after his summer arrest in Wisconsin on a charge of operating a vehicle under the influence. He was not on CBS's broadcast schedule for Weeks 2 or 3, with J.J. Watt filling in as the network's interim lead analyst. Sports Business Journal's Austin Karp has floated the possibility that Aikman could look at CBS if Watt doesn't stick and if Romo's situation drags on, though no such move has been reported as in progress.

The Mirror reported the 2022 Buck-Aikman package at a combined $155 million over five years, a number that runs somewhat higher than the individual figures other outlets cited for each man's separate deal, roughly $75 million for Buck and $90 million for Aikman. The discrepancy likely reflects different ways of totaling the same two contracts rather than a factual conflict.

What happens next depends largely on Aikman. If ESPN wants to keep its record-setting duo intact past this season, a new deal will need to get done before his current contract runs out after Super Bowl LXI in February.