‘Troy Needs to Take It Up With the Bosses,’ ‘I Don’t See Why Troy Is Mad at Joe’ — Fans Back John Middlekauff’s Defense of Joe Buck

Matthew Cannata Fri, October 16, 2026 at 4:07 AM UTC

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Television commentator Troy Aikman speaks before the game between the Dallas Cowboys and the Arizona Cardinals at AT&T Stadium. (Jerome Miron-Imagn Images)John Middlekauff isn’t pinning the reported friction in ESPN’s “Monday Night Football” booth on Joe Buck. In a clip his show posted Thursday, the former NFL scout said he doesn’t blame Buck at all for signing his new contract, a day after Front Office Sports, citing a source, reported that Buck and Troy Aikman argued in the booth before Monday’s Bills-Rams game.

John Middlekauff isn’t pinning the reported friction in ESPN’s “Monday Night Football” booth on Joe Buck. In a clip his show posted Thursday, the former NFL scout said he doesn’t blame Buck at all for signing his new contract, a day after Front Office Sports, citing a source, reported that Buck and Troy Aikman argued in the booth before Monday’s Bills-Rams game.

The tension stems from their contracts, according to the report. Buck agreed to a six-year extension worth roughly $108 million in September, according to The Athletic, while Aikman, his partner of 25 years, has not received a formal offer. Buck broke the silence on that unspoken tension Monday, and the two argued before things de-escalated, the source said.

John Middlekauff and Joe Buck Both Point to ESPN’s Call

Aikman didn’t deny the report when asked about it Thursday morning on 96.7 The Ticket in Dallas, saying there’s probably a time and a place for that discussion and that he didn’t know if now was it.

“But I’ll broadcast through this season and I’ll be a free agent at the end of the year and kind of see what happens,” he said.

Middlekauff didn’t hedge on his show, “3 & Out with John Middlekauff”. He said Buck isn’t the bad guy, adding that Buck doesn’t run Disney, the company that owns ESPN.

Buck had made a similar point himself in late September. On Philadelphia’s 97.5 The Fanatic, he said he was hopeful that Aikman and ESPN would reach a deal.

“But that’s kind of his world, and ESPN’s world, and I’ve got to kind of mind my own yard in that stuff,” Buck said.

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Fans Answering Middlekauff Back Buck as One Raises Loyalty

Fans answering the show’s post largely took Middlekauff’s side. “Exactly. What’s Buck supposed to do? He’s not Aikman’s agent,” one fan replied, defending Buck.

Another account questioned why Aikman would be upset with Buck at all. “I don’t see why Troy is mad at Joe. Did he expect Joe to see a $108M contract and not sign it?”

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“Troy needs to take it up with the bosses,” another fan wrote.

Buck has said the two never negotiated as a pair. “It wasn’t like we were doing some national signing day where we walk in arm-in-arm and then sign contracts at the same time,” he said in that late-September interview.

Not every reply agreed. “Spoken like a man unfamiliar with the concept of loyalty,” one fan wrote back to Middlekauff.

Buck has also pointed to his own history with Aikman. In the same late-September interview, he noted that he asked out of the end of his Fox contract to follow Aikman to ESPN, which signed both men to five-year deals in 2022.

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What Troy Aikman Has Said About Buck’s Deal and His Future

Days after Buck’s extension was reported, Aikman spoke about it on the “Sports Media with Richard Deitsch” podcast. “Good for him for getting an extension,” Aikman said in the Sept. 20 interview. He added that he had expected his own deal to be done before the season and that he would want to keep working with Buck.

On Thursday, Aikman said he’s looking forward to the rest of this season and the Super Bowl, and to seeing where he lands next.

ESPN declined to comment on the FOS report, and Josh Krulewitz, the network’s executive vice president of communications, said in September that ESPN won’t address talent contract specifics publicly before the Super Bowl.

Until then, Buck and Aikman will keep sharing the booth, with only one of them under contract beyond February.

This article originally appeared on Pro Football Network.

Original Article on Source

Source: “AOL Sports”