These developments came five days after Fox analyst Tom Brady\u2019s increasing voice as Raiders minority owner reportedly factored into the firing of coach Pete Carroll.<\/p>\n
Trendy confluence? It certainly seems that way. Surprising and sudden? Not if you saw and read to the end our November feature<\/a> about Aikman\u2019s quarter-century broadcasting career and 24-year partnership with Joe Buck.<\/p>\n Cowboys<\/p>\n By signing up, you agree to our\u00a0Terms of Service<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Privacy Policy.<\/a><\/p>\n Aikman was nearing his 59th birthday later that month. Still young enough, The News pointed out, for him to fulfill a goal he\u2019d had since late in his playing career: Running an NFL front office.<\/p>\n \u201cI could be, yeah,\u201d Aikman told us. <\/p>\n He called it \u201cfar-fetched\u201d that it could happen, noting that the time for him to do so, as a single father, would have been when the younger of his two daughters graduated high school in 2021.<\/p>\n But to hear the passion in Aikman\u2019s full answer, if we didn\u2019t know better we\u2019d wonder if Dolphins owner Stephen M. Ross tapped that phone conversation, which in a sense foreshadowed what is happening now.<\/p>\n \u201cI think when my days are coming to an end, that will be something I\u2019ll look back on,\u201d he said. \u201cNot in regret that I didn\u2019t do it, but always wonder how I would have done. And I think I would do really well with it, you know?<\/p>\n \u201cI feel strongly in my abilities to put together a team that can compete \u2013 or to create a culture that allows people to be at their best. But until you do it, just talking about it is just like everyone else in the world.<\/p>\n \u201cPeople that can do it, do it. And the people that don\u2019t, talk about it.\u201d<\/p>\n It\u2019s unclear how many days passed between that interview and the Dolphins\u2019 call, but Aikman said Friday during his first 2026 appearance<\/a> with \u201cThe Musers\u201d on Sportsradio 96.7 FM\/1310 The Ticket (KTCK-AM) that the team reached out \u201ca few weeks ago.\u201d<\/p>\n Aikman said he dove into the opportunity, studying every facet of the Dolphins\u2019 organization. Later Friday, Miami hired as general manager Jon-Eric Sullivan, who reportedly was Aikman\u2019s preferred candidate. Now comes multiple reports that Aikman will assist Sullivan in the head coach search.<\/p>\n As Aikman and Buck prepare to broadcast Monday night\u2019s Texan-Steelers Wild Card game in Pittsburgh, it\u2019s intriguing to wonder: Is Aikman\u2019s Miami role a way for him to temporarily scratch a decades-old itch? Or might the Dolphins offer a Director of Football-like role, like the Falcons created for Ryan?<\/p>\n There are at least two reasons to believe Aikman wouldn\u2019t accept such an opportunity. One, he\u2019s firmly entrenched in Dallas personally and in his multiple businesses, including EIGHT Elite Lite Beer<\/a>.<\/p>\n Two, it would require him to resign from ESPN, as Ryan did from CBS on Saturday. The difference is Ryan was making a reported $5M-to-$6M as a studio analyst; whereas Aikman reportedly earns $18.5 annually from the five-year, $92.5M ESPN deal he signed in 2022<\/a>.<\/p>\n Then again, as Aikman told The News in November: \u201cI\u2019ve always been up for a challenge. It\u2019s what\u2019s gotten me involved in a lot of the different things that I\u2019ve done in business.<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t talk a lot about [NFL front office aspirations], just because it [talking] is too easy to do,\u201d he added. \u201cBut I will always wonder what that might have looked like had I decided to go down that route.\u201d<\/p>\n Recent weeks have given Aikman a taste of franchise-building, but if he doesn\u2019t take on a full-time role as the Dolphins embark on a course he helped set, will he continue to wonder? As he spoke Friday to \u201cThe Musers\u201d from Miami, he didn\u2019t seem to dismiss any possibility.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m really excited about the process,\u201d he said, adding, \u201cIt\u2019s been great; so we\u2019ll see where this might go.\u201d<\/p>\n Unlike Ryan\u2019s return to an Atlanta organization for which he played from 2008 to 2022, we know that possibility doesn\u2019t exist for Aikman with the Cowboys, for whom Jerry Jones holds the titles of owner, president and general manager.<\/p>\n Here, Director of Football would, at best, be a ceremonial title.<\/p>\n North Texas products Myles Garrett and Jaxon Smith-Njigba were also unanimous choices for the\u00a0first team.<\/p>\n The Hall of Fame QB served as a consultant in Miami\u2019s hunt for a general manager, which ended with the hiring of Aikman\u2019s preferred candidate.<\/p>\n![\"Dallas](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/XEJFQHIIR5G25LQVRCIPTJPHSU.jpg\")
<\/a>Trio of Dallas Cowboys players named to AP All-Pro second team<\/a><\/p>\n![\"FILE](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/OG7VJUYV6JAVROMJ25CUH6LPQA.jpg\")
<\/a>Cowboys icon Troy Aikman explains how and why he helped Dolphins in search for new GM<\/a><\/p>\n