Earlier this season, Joe Buck signed a sizeable six-year, $108 million contract extension with ESPN to remain the play-by-play announcer for Monday Night Football. Analyst Troy Aikman is in his final year with ESPN and has yet to sign a new deal, leaving room for tension to grow between them.

According to Front Office Sports, the “unspoken tension” between Buck and Aikman spilled over after Buck “broke the ice,” and the two argued Monday night before the Rams took on the Bills at SoFi Stadium. The dispute eventually de-escalated, and the duo went on to give a broadcast in which viewers never would have known anything had escalated.

In 2022, Aikman and Buck both left Fox and signed five-year deals with ESPN. In that round, Aikman signed first, while Buck followed weeks later after negotiating his release from Fox.

FOS mentioned that both hosts are represented by CAA but have different agents. With Buck’s new contract done, talk lingers for Aikman as an extension hasn’t even been offered. “ESPN is playing a dangerous game of chicken,” FOS wrote, as letting the talks linger risks signaling that the network is ambivalent about his return.

Speculation has suggested that College GameDay and ESPN talk show host Pat McAfee could be in the running to fill the empty seat next year, but McAfee recently threw cold water on the speculation via X.

“This isn’t real. There’s been zero conversation about this,” McAfee said.

If Aikman and Buck split, Aikman could potentially land a seat in a CBS booth after the network parted ways with Tony Romo earlier this month. As for potential matches for Buck, former Carolina Panther Greg Olsen is a looming free agent, while Jason Kelce and Kurt Warner have worked on ESPN’s second NFL broadcast team for international games.

It will be interesting to see how the MNF staples handle the rest of the season and the Super Bowl, as ABC/ESPN will be broadcasting the NFL’s championship game this year.