DALLAS — Troy Aikman has been on your television screen, one way or another, for 38 consecutive NFL seasons — 12 as a player and 26 as a Fox or ESPN broadcaster. For the first time, the former Cowboys quarterback acknowledged Wednesday night it could all be coming to an end. “I think there is a chance, I’d probably say now 50-50 would be my guess," Aikman said Wednesday night when Peter King ...

Joe Buck and Troy Aikman look on prior to a game between the Dallas Cowboys and Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the NFC Wild Card playoff game at Raymond James Stadium on Jan. 16, 2023, in Tampa, Florida.

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DALLAS — Troy Aikman has been on your television screen, one way or another, for 38 consecutive NFL seasons — 12 as a player and 26 as a Fox or ESPN broadcaster. For the first time, the former Cowboys quarterback acknowledged Wednesday night it could all be coming to an end.

“I think there is a chance, I’d probably say now 50-50 would be my guess," Aikman said Wednesday night when Peter King asked him if it’s possible he won’t do TV after this year. King, the longtime Sports Illustrated football columnist, and Aikman were at Interabang Books on Lovers Lane to promote King’s book “The Game,’’ chronicling his years covering the NFL of which Aikman was a major part as a three-time Super Bowl champion.

“I guess I’m still getting my head around how I got to this position," Aikman said. He added he wasn’t at liberty to discuss everything going on and that there would be “a right time when I can be a little more candid."

Acknowledging that he didn’t truly appreciate the broadcast work his first decade with Fox, Aikman said, “Now I’m in my 26th year and I love the life. I love the game and now I’m realizing that that could be going away."

It’s not a bad life. Flying in his private jet, making $18 million per season. The thing is that there are only a few jobs at that level, and with Tom Brady at Fox, J.J. Watt at CBS and Cris Collinsworth at NBC locked into their top spots, Aikman may have few options, if any, as a top analyst. Even if he’s still very popular and I would rank him ahead of all those others, Collinsworth being the only one who’s consistently close to his level.

What Aikman is not at liberty to discuss is how his longtime partner, Joe Buck, has a new contract with ESPN and he doesn’t. A few things are obvious. ESPN likes its big names to be omnipresent. You can’t turn on the network without finding either Stephen A. Smith or Pat McAfee on the screen in a very short amount of time. Like it or not, those are the flag bearers ESPN has chosen to shower with millions. Along those lines, Buck hosts “ESPN Jeopardy." He recently made a guest appearance as a panelist on “Dancing With the Stars," an ABC ratings leader under the same Disney umbrella.

Aikman likes to prepare for his games and analyze his games and call it a day. He is not particularly close with Buck although there is a long history of outstanding broadcast teams that clicked on the air and had little to do with each other in their personal time.

But two things need to be said here.

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Former professional football player Troy Aikman before the NFL game at Allegiant Stadium on Nov. 17, 2025, in Las Vegas.

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One is that if you’re thinking this opens the door for Aikman to come lead your Cowboys to greatness, do yourself a favor. Slam that door. Aikman’s not walking through it.

Before his appearance with King Wednesday night, I spoke with him about the long talk that he and Cowboys owner Jerry Jones had at Lincoln Financial Field on Monday night before Dallas’ 38-21 victory. Much was made of that talk. Speculation has been rampant ever since Aikman, rather innocently, answered a question about whether he could ever work for the Cowboys in the affirmative. Now he has been up front in the past about the idea of his ever playing a major role as a general manager, saying, “that ship has sailed."

But he did some consulting work with the Miami Dolphins last spring in their search for a new GM and coach and he may have been thinking along those lines when he said a future with the Cowboys was possible. Aikman told me that he was trying to make it clear Monday night he never meant to put Jones in the awkward position of having to field questions about whether he would hire the former quarterback, knowing the speculation that comes with that.

Of course, Jones has never met an awkward public position he didn’t embrace, so it’s not as if Aikman really needed to apologize or even explain himself.

The second thing is that I’m not asking anyone to feel sorry for Aikman and he certainly wasn’t conducting that business Wednesday night, either. Aikman has made millions more in broadcast than he ever did with the Cowboys and his current $18 million salary can afford him the opportunity to take a few weeks off after he calls what could be his last Super Bowl in Los Angeles on Feb. 14.

It most certainly will be his last Super Bowl with Buck. And now that has a chance to be interesting and awkward.

“I really thought initially I would do this job for a couple of years and move on to something else,’’ Aikman said. “I don’t know what the future holds for me and I’m kind of wrestling with that a bit. Like I hope that I’m not done. I hope I get more opportunities to call games. Time will tell.

“But I’m very grateful for what I’ve had up to this point and hopeful for the future. I guess that’s the best way of putting it.’’

It almost certainly won’t be with ESPN, and he won’t be on the network ripping his shirt off to what may or may not be appealing to viewers. A former NFL punter already has that job locked down.