Hall of Fame quarterback Troy Aikman has left Fox for ESPN after two decades. The decision was made easier by the fact that Fox never made him an offer to stay.
“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 1310 The Ticket in Dallas, via Greg Joyce of the New York Post. “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.”
Embedded in that explanation is the fact that he and Fox engaged in negotiations that went nowhere, before he negotiated his opt-out. Thus, Fox had an inkling as to what Aikman wanted (Romo money), and a notion as to whether they’d get there.
Aikman pushes back at the perception that he chased the cash, given that he’ll make more than $18 million per year at ESPN.
“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.”
Again, Fox may have known it wasn’t going to offer anything close to what Aikman wanted. So why make him an offer he would never accept?
In some cases, no offer is less insulting than an insulting offer. Maybe that’s why Fox ultimately made no offer.