Troy Aikman is leaving Fox for ESPN. The question that remains is: Will Joe Buck follow?
The play-by-play analyst has one year left on his contract with Fox.
Aikman said Monday he hopes their working relationship continues.
“We have a great friendship. We really do,” Aikman told Mike Leslie of WFAA. “We’ve been through a lot. We’ve been through a lot in our profession, but we’ve also been through a lot in our personal lives. We’ve kind of paralleled a lot of things in our personal lives as well, and we’ve helped each other get through a lot of that. I know that that’s not as norm. I think a lot of partners get along, but to be as good a friends as what we are. . . . I mean he truly is one of my best friends.
“There’s probably more that could be said, and I think maybe it will in the right time. But there’s been some disappointment on how maybe that was taken for granted by some. He’s been a fantastic partner. In my opinion, he’s the best in the business, and yeah, I’d love nothing more than to continue to work with him.”
Buck is making $11 million per year at Fox, according to Andrew Marchand of the New York Post, and the network is expected to allow Buck to listen to ESPN.
He joined the network when it first got an NFL package in 1994, and he became the top play-by-play announcer after the 2001 season when Pat Summerall retired.