In the NFL, it’s not uncommon for a player to be traded at some point in his playing career. Now Joe Buck, one of the more well-known football announcers, may get a taste of what it feels like to be traded from one organization to another.
Earlier this offseason, Troy Aikman, the longtime partner of Buck signed a contract with ESPN to join their Monday Night Football broadcast team.
Naturally, with Aikman leaving Fox, the speculation has led many around the football world to wonder who will be joining Aikman in the ESPN broadcast booth. Will they stick with the current cast consisting of Steve Levy and Louis Riddick, or will they try and pursue Aikman’s on-air partner for the past 20 years in Joe Buck.
ESPN trying to trade for Joe Buck, pairing him with Troy Aikman once again
While they’ve already been working behind the scenes on a few different trades, now ESPN may be turning their attention back to Joe Buck.
According to Jim Miller’s appearance on the SI Media Podcast, ESPN and Fox have been working toward a trade for Buck’s broadcasting rights. Buck, who is under contract with Fox through the 2022 season, would likely welcome a situation in which he’s paired with Aikman again next season. They’re both known to be good friends with one another and have developed a strong on-camera chemistry together.
While it’s an uncommon scenario for a TV broadcaster to be traded to another network, it has happened before.
Back in 2006, Walt Disney Pictures traded the rights to Al Michaels to NBC for the rights to Oswald the Rabbit. This is 100% real.
While there’s unlikely to be any such silly trades this time around, where a cartoon character is exchanged for a broadcaster, there appears to be real interest in pairing Aikman and Buck on MNF broadcasts next season. Or, ESPN just might decide to wait a year until Buck’s contract is up and they can individually negotiate directly with Buck’s camp.