Just days after Philip Rivers made a ripple-worthy comeback, Troy Aikman decided he’d have some fun, too. The Dallas Cowboys legend sent shockwaves through NFL circles this week after casually teasing that he’s ready to be back in the grind.

“Saw this core exercise and had to give it a try. Just in case any other teams are looking for a retired QB,” Aikman jokingly wrote while balancing himself on a dumbbell, defying his 59-year-old self.

While this might be a joke, coming out of retirement is not a new thought for him.

During a 2023 segment of ESPN’s ‘The Adam Schefter Podcast’, the 3x Super Bowl winner candidly admitted how he almost joined the Miami Dolphins in 2023.

“I had a chance initially and I was gonna do it quite honestly,” the former quarterback said. “I was gonna come back and the Dolphins were looking at me. Dave Wannstedt was the head coach. Norv Turner was the offensive coordinator. I had trained that offseason, prepared to come back and play. And they felt like they were a quarterback away from achieving what they wanted to do.

“Rick Spielman was the [senior vice president of football operations] and I believe he was the one who decided not to sign me. It was probably a good thing from their perspective. And it was a great thing from my perspective because they weren’t a quarterback away. They were not very good.”

Furthermore, Aikman would have also had a chance to play under Wannstedt, his former defensive coordinator at Miami (1989-1992).

But, like they say, all’s well that ends well. Or does it?

After leading the Cowboys to three Super Bowl titles, Troy Aikman retired at just 34 and shifted into broadcasting, a career that has now outlasted his time under center. But during a candid appearance on Sports Media with Richard Deitsch, the NFL Hall of Famer admitted he once came surprisingly close to walking away from the booth for good.

“It was a tremendous Super Bowl. And yet, after the game, I felt more empty than I did at that moment in my life,” Aikman recalled. “I just thought, ‘Wow, if this is how I feel, maybe I’m in the wrong profession.’ ”

That moment came only six years into his partnership with Joe Buck, long before their eventual move to ESPN. Thankful, those thoughts are long gone. It’s more of a full-circle moment now.

“Every year, I’ve enjoyed it more and more. At some point, I’ll walk away. But for right now, I’m really enjoying my time at ESPN. I love working with Joe,” he said.

Aikman also joked about what would, and wouldn’t, work if he ever truly attempted an NFL comeback.

“I have always had the ability to throw a ball whether it’s baseball, football or basketball, I have always had an ability to put where I wanted to put it. And that hasn’t changed. I think my accuracy would still be on target,” Aikman said. “It wouldn’t get there as fast, and I wouldn’t be accurate as far down the field.”

His back and shoulder issues, the same ones that forced his 2000 retirement, still linger. His stance is clear: fun teases aside, he isn’t coming back.

Troy Aikman generated news this week for something much more serious: finally opening up on why he left FOX after more than two decades.

Troy Aikman airs FOX’s dirty laundry

On Sports Media with Richard Deitsch, Troy Aikman said that the breakup was not about the money, nor fame, nor a new opportunity; it was about communication, or lack thereof. That was in contrast with what FOX became over the course of time.

“At FOX, it was really more of a mom-and-pop operation because of David Hill and Ed Gorin,” Aikman said.

He believed that it was a workplace built on personal relationships and direct conversations. Even when leadership changed, he said executives like Eric Shanks and Brad Zager continued that culture initially. When Aikman’s contract was up in 2022, though, something dramatically shifted.

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According to Aikman, FOX wholly stopped communicating with him. He said he never received a last offer, nor even a conversation about his future. Instead, FOX executives only reached out after news broke that he had signed with ESPN.

“The reason that I’m no longer at FOX is mostly due to a lack of communication,” Aikman said. “Which is ironic since we’re in the communications business.”

Aikman’s comments pulled back the curtain on FOX’s internal operations, revealing the communication missteps that had never been publicly acknowledged. By speaking openly about what was happening behind the scenes, he exposed the network’s previously unseen silence and uncertainty.

“I never had a conversation with Eric Shanks until he called to congratulate me on the ESPN contract,” Aikman said. “Joe had asked him the same questions… and he refused to answer.”

Now earning one of the highest salaries in sports broadcasting and serving as ESPN’s lead NFL analyst, Aikman has embraced the network’s more corporate structure. After more than twenty years as one of their most recognizable faces, he felt he deserved clarity. He didn’t get it.