Dallas Cowboys QB Competition: What Does Troy Aikman Think of Tony Romo?
Dallas Cowboys quarterbacks have graduated to the broadcast booth since the early '70s when Don Meredith joined Monday Night Football, the tradition continues with Troy Aikman and Tony Romo, so how does Troy Aikman really feel about Tony Romo?
According to The Spun, Troy Aikman thinks he deserves a better salary than Tony Romo because he started in the broadcast booth three years before Romo even began his NFL career with the Dallas Cowboys.
Aikman has wanted to get a better deal than Tony Romo ever since Romo signed one of the biggest broadcast contracts with CBS in 2020 at $17 million a year.
“Aikman wanted to beat Romo’s deal since the day Romo signed it, according to multiple people with knowledge of his thinking,” wrote Ben Strauss of The Washington Post. “And ESPN was happy to accommodate him when [President Jimmy Pitaro] learned he was available thanks to an opt-out in his contract.”
That is why Troy Aikman left Fox to get on board with ESPN's Monday Night Football, so he could become the second Dallas Cowboys QB to be in the MNF booth, the third Cowboys player to be on MNF, and to get a bigger payday. Aikman inked a five-year, $18 million a year deal with ESPN to be the color analyst for a total contract of $90 million.
ESPN also signed a five-year $75 million contract with Joe Buck, Troy's partner in the booth for the past two decades at Fox, for a combined $165 million commitment over the next five years.
ESPN tried to lure Tony Romo from CBS in 2020 before Romo signed his extension, so ESPN gets their coveted former Dallas Cowboys player with Troy Aikman, the first former Cowboys player after Jason Witten left the Monday Night Football booth after only one year to go back on the field as a player.
With the $18 million a year payday, Troy Aikman got his wish and is making more than Tony Romo, for now.