Want more from Front Office Sports
in your search results?
The line to possibly succeed Troy Aikman forms on my right. And it’s getting longer by the day.
Drew Brees of Fox Sports tells Front Office Sports he’s interested in becoming the new game analyst for ESPN’s Monday Night Football if Aikman leaves.
Brees joins a growing list of possible partners for play-by-play announcer Joe Buck, including ex-CBS Sports analyst Tony Romo, Fox colleague Greg Olsen, tight end Travis Kelce of the Chiefs, and Rams coach Sean McVay.
Speaking with FOS’s Baker Machado, Brees was asked if he wants the job if the former Cowboys QB leaves ESPN when his contract expires following Super Bowl LXI in February. The ex-Saints QB was as direct and on target as one of his passes at the Superdome in New Orleans: “Of course,” he says with a laugh.
Brees loves watching Aikman and Buck on MNF, calling them two of the “best in the business.” But if the iconic MNF color commentator slot once filled by John Madden, Frank Gifford, and Howard Cosell becomes available, it would be a no-brainer, according to the 47-year-old Hall of Famer.
“At the end of the day, I aspire to be the best at what I’m pursuing. I love broadcasting and I love my team. And I love being able to broadcast games every week,” says Brees. “For example, this week, we’re broadcasting Vikings-Packers. The Packers are one of the most explosive offenses in football right now. I love the fact that I’ll get a chance to dive into watching [Packers QB] Jordan Love, [coach] Matt LaFleur and that whole offense. Look, they struggled early on in the season. Now they’ve kind of turned the corner. The Vikings are reeling a little bit. Trying to figure it out on offense. We get to dive in and identify what the solutions could be. The [Vikings] defense is lights out. What a great matchup that’s going to be. I get to be in the shoes of both.
“Again, that’s what I love every week is the opportunity to talk about it, communicate it. But we’re all aspiring to be the best that we can be at it.”
Given the fierce competition, Brees would be a long shot. He flopped in his first season on the air with NBC Sports in 2021. But I think he’s greatly improved in the broadcast booth since joining Fox full-time in Week 11 of the 2025 season.
And it’s hard to argue with Brees’s gridiron resume. Like Aikman, he’s a Pro Football Hall of Famer. Like Aikman, he’s a Super Bowl winner, with his Saints upsetting Peyton Manning’s favored Colts in Super Bowl XLIV. Like Aikman, he’s a former Super Bowl MVP.
And like Aikman, Tom Brady, and Romo, Brees is fiercely competitive with his media competitors—and himself. Every former NFL star who calls games wants the No. 1 color commentator job with their network. Why not? The gig comes with extraordinary rewards, including annual salaries in the $10 million to $20 million range, the choicest game matchups, and the chance to call Super Bowls before the country’s largest television audience. The top NFL announcers have become the face/voice of their networks the way news anchors such as Dan Rather and Peter Jennings were back in the day. See Brady serving as emcee for Fox Corp’s upfront pitch to Madison Avenue this spring.
Brees sounds grateful to Fox for picking him up off the TV scrap heap when he was damaged goods. But there’s no getting around it. He, play-by-play announcer Adam Amin, and sideline reporter Kristina Pink are still on the No. 3 NFL announce team at Fox.
They’re behind the No. 2 team of Greg Olsen–Joe Davis–Pam Oliver, and, of course, the No. 1 squad of Tom Brady–Kevin Burkhardt–Erin Andrews–Tom Rinaldi that calls Fox’s Super Bowls.
Brees wouldn’t be the fierce competitor he is if he didn’t aspire to be the No. 1 game analyst—whether it’s at Fox or another NFL media partner.
“I would love to. That’s my goal and aspiration, and that’s what I’m working towards. Every week, I feel like it’s getting better and better and more comfortable,” Brees tells Machado. “I love the crew that I work with at Fox. I think they’re absolute pros. I love the preparation that goes into a week. I watch that film as if I’m trying to attack every side of the ball. I kind of build my strategy, and then being able to talk to the coaches from each side of the ball, and the key players each and every week. You always feel like you’re staying ahead of the curve. You know what’s coming. You see the evolution of the game.”
The problem for Brees is there are too many available game analysts—and not enough seats—in the NFL TV’s multimillion game of musical chairs. The top candidates like Brees, Romo, and Olsen are using the media game to remind potential employers they’re out there, and to protect their public images.
Take Romo, who unceremoniously parted ways with CBS on Oct. 2 despite having four years and $72 million left on his contract. The former Cowboys QB has been lying low since pleading no contest to a first-offense operating while intoxicated (OWI) charge in September, then posting an emotional statement on social media completely “owning” his mistakes.
But there was a smiling, healthy-looking Romo making a surprise appearance on Pat McAfee’s MNF Field Pass, where he helped break down Bills-Vikings as a “quarterback expert” this past Monday night. Romo was welcomed back by many viewers, who’ve missed him calling games on CBS with longtime partner Jim Nantz this season (CBS boss David Berson promoted 37-year-old J.J. Watt to succeed Romo on the No. 1 team with Nantz and Tracy Wolfson).
Romo’s only 46 years old. If he wants it, he still has a lot of TV ahead of him in the game booth or studio. It was a not-so-subtle reminder to ESPN, which would have opened the vault for him back in 2020 before hiring Aikman and Buck two years later, that he’s a TV free agent.
McAfee, one of the most influential talents at ESPN, was effusive in his praise for Romo. “Tony, we missed the hell out of you this season,” McAfee told him. “You need to know that from all of us, Tony. We appreciate you, brother.”
There are no flies on Olsen either. Like Brees, Fox Sports’s current No. 2 game analyst has made it crystal clear he wants to return to the type of No. 1 job he excelled at with Fox before being dropped back to No. 2 following Fox’s monster 10-year, $375 million deal with Brady in 2022.
To me, Olsen aced his call of Super Bowl LVII with longtime friend Kevin Burkhardt in 2023. He knows he’s viewed as the betting favorite to join Buck if Aikman leaves MNF. That might be why Olsen’s on a hair trigger about somebody trying to put words in his mouth he doesn’t believe are accurate.
See the media kerfuffle over how Olsen and play-by-play partner Joe Davis described Malik Nabers’s “body language” during the Giants’ 19–11 win over the Eagles on Sunday. After several media outlets reported the Fox duo described the Giants star as a “bad teammate,” both Nabers and Olsen quickly set the record straight.
The third-year Giants receiver wasn’t happy with their analysis, complaining on Instagram that Olsen and Fox were trying to “create a narrative” about him. Rather than letting the dispute get out of hand, Olsen stepped in himself.
“Since people are going to just make up quotes and put words in my mouth, here were my comments on Malik Nabers,” he wrote on X/Twitter, along with a video of his commentary. “At no point did we ever say he was a bad teammate. Hopefully @nypost and @USATODAY will adjust their stories.”
Olsen has his eye on the ball. His instant damage control spoke volumes. An older, less media-savvy analyst would have whined about inaccurate headlines to Fox communications chief Andrew Fegyveresi, but done nothing. The 41-year-old Olsen, on the other hand, knows how to use social media to his own advantage. He put out the fire before it really got burning.
Then there’s Aikman himself. For the first time in weeks, he and Buck seemed to get along in the broadcast booth Monday night. There was improved body language, more eye contact, a couple of chuckles, a few yuks. Could their ugly feud be ending? Or are they just good actors? During the game, the 59-year-old Aikman even ribbed Buck about his new six-year, $108 million contract extension by joking he’d buy a diamond-studded chain like Justin Jefferson of the Vikings if “somebody would loan me some money.”
To me, it’s doubtful Aikman will put on the ESPN jersey again once he calls Super Bowl LXI with Buck on Feb. 14. Things seem to be too far gone. But never say never. As I’ve written before, I think ESPN would be foolish to break up Aikman-Buck: the best broadcast team in the NFL biz. Sometimes the best trades are the ones you don’t make.
