Former Dallas Cowboys QB and current ESPN NFL analyst Troy Aikman serves as an advisor to the Miami Dolphins. While Aikman isn’t taking a hands-on role in building the team, he’s lending his expertise to Miami’s decision-making process as part of this rebuild.
Nonetheless, many are critical of Aikman for taking an advisor role with the Dolphins while working as the color analyst for Monday Night Football on ESPN. Still, Aikman is pushing back against those concerns.
Aikman said on Dallas Dialogue with Dale that ESPN gets good teams on the schedule for Monday Night Football. As a result, with the Dolphins not having the expectation of being a good team, and he won’t be announcing their games this season.
“The Dolphins are not expected to be very good this year,” Aikman said (h/t Pro Football Talk). “They’re getting out of cap hell, so there’s no Monday night game with the Dolphins this year.”
Moreover, Aikman made it clear that NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell has no issue with him working for the Dolphins and for ESPN.
“I’ve talked to the commissioner and he’s fine with what I’m doing and my role. Anyone behind a mic that’s calling a game, there’s a conflict of interest because you have relationships in this business,” Aikman added.
“I have friendships every week that I call a game, whether with a head coach or offensive coordinator or player or whoever it is. I would argue that every broadcaster has a conflict when they’re calling a game.”
Troy Aikman Intends to Be Transparent With Dolphins Role
While Aikman doesn’t have to worry about calling Dolphins games on Monday Night Football, that won’t always be the case. If the former NFL QB wants to see this Miami rebuild through in his advisory role, there will come a point when he does call games. Still, Aikman is ready for when that day comes.
“As long as you’re up front with the viewer and let them know the deal, they can take away from that whether you’re biased in your analysis,” Aikman said.
Will Miami Regret Passing on Rueben Bain Jr.?
One of the major decisions Miami made as part of its rebuild this past offseason came at the 2026 NFL Draft. General manager Jon-Eric Sullivan and his group decided to take Kadyn Proctor with the 12th overall pick and pass on local product and former Miami Hurricanes star Rueben Bain Jr., who went to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers with the 15th overall pick.
It’s been a couple of months since the April draft, yet the Dolphins’ decision is still under scrutiny, especially given how Bain is performing in training camp. Tampa Bay held a joint practice with the New York Jets, and reports shared that Bain was “a menace” for the Buccaneers.
As a result, Jonathan Zaslow of ESPN Radio and “The Dan Le Batard Show” still feels that Miami made a mistake passing on Bain.
“I’m not even looking at it from the prism of Bain versus Proctor because I think that could be a little bit unfair right now because adjusting from playing offensive line at a different position, playing offensive line in college to playing offensive line in the pros, that’s a massive adjustment,” Zaslow said on the Aug. 13 edition of “The Dan Le Batard Show.”
“But I can look at it solely from the Rueben Bain prism because I know this guy’s going to be awesome. I think we had this conversation when Rueben Bain was drafted. Even if Kadyn Proctor is really good, I still hate the pick because I know Rueben Bain is going to be really good.”
Troy Aikman Has Strong Response to Concerns Over Dolphins Role