After trying and failing to hire Peyton Manning, FOX now wants to do on Thursday Night Football what CBS and NBC did previously: Give double duty to the network’s top Sunday crew.
That would be Joe Buck and Troy Aikman, whom FOX is asking to handle Thursday nights, according to Andrew Marchand of the New York Post.
It’s not clear yet whether Buck and Aikman will accept that offer. They’ll obviously want more money for more work, and they might object to the schedule. Buck, in particular, already has a busy schedule in the fall because he handles baseball postseason games for FOX. The network might need to give the pair some Sundays off to avoid burning them out.
FOX made a major five-year investment in Thursday nights and wants to find the right broadcast team. Other potential analysts whose names have surfaced include the recently retired Joe Thomas and Carson Palmer.