Troy Aikman has been the color analyst on Fox for years but is now making the move to ESPN’s Monday Night Football
It was a little shocking to everyone including Troy himself.
In an interview with 1310 The Ticket in Dallas, Aikman says Fox never pursued him when he became a free agent and never had any conversations with them until they called to congratulate him on his new job with ESPN.
“It is a strange set of circumstances that led me to where I am now and not be back at Fox,” Aikman said Tuesday on Sportsradio 96.7 and 1310 The Ticket in Dallas. “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. They never made an offer. I didn’t have any conversations with Fox, until I got a call to congratulate me on my new deal. So that was a decision they made and it’s fine.”
Before the 2021 season, the former Cowboys quarterback and Fox had worked out a four-year extension at $13.2 million per year, The Post previously reported. But there was a potential opt out after the season if Aikman were to secure a bigger and better deal.
That offer finally came from ESPN, which swooped in and gave Aikman the kind of money Tony Romo is getting from CBS.
“Some will look at it and say, ‘Troy ultimately went where the money led him,’ which is not true,” Aikman said. “Initially my plan was to stay at Fox, but as I said, that was a decision they made and I went a different route.”
It seems like he wanted to be with Fox but they had other plans.
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