Joe Buck hopes ESPN is his final destination

Joe Buck is headed for free agency, but it doesn’t sound like he expects the forthcoming negotiations with ESPN to be difficult.

Buck will be featured in an upcoming episode of Sports Media with Richard Deitsch. And during the episode, Deitsch asked Buck about his current ESPN contract, which is set to expire following the upcoming NFL season. His agents might not consider it the best negotiation tactic, but Buck is already dismissing any possibility of leaving ESPN.

SOME NEWS: Joe Buck says he wants to remain at ESPN for the rest of his career. His ESPN contract expires at the end of this NFL season.

Story for @SBJ: https://t.co/Py9GcXlXqx https://t.co/xDKwnu8VPr

— Richard Deitsch (@richarddeitsch) April 10, 2026

“If you reached through my computer screen right now and handed me a contract to continue my time at ESPN, I would sign it without even looking at it,” Buck told Deitsch. “I’ve loved every second of it, and I am hopeful that I’m at ESPN for the rest of my career. That’s as plain as I can say it and as honest as I can say it, and maybe it’s stupid of me to say. If something gets thrown at me and I have to shift, I’ll shift. But I would be hopeful to stay right where I am until I’m finished.”

Buck told Deitsch that there have been no formal discussions about an extension, but he believes both sides are happy with the relationship as his first contract with ESPN comes to a close.

There was never any reason to think the relationship between Buck and ESPN wouldn’t continue beyond his current contract. Buck and his longtime NFL broadcast partner, Troy Aikman, have both praised ESPN since making the jump from Fox in 2022. They’re routinely credited as being the best booth in football, with Buck specifically showing more personality and sounding less tense since joining ESPN.

Buck and Aikman each signed five-year contracts to be the voices of Monday Night Football with ESPN in March 2022. And this will be their biggest season yet, as ESPN and ABC join the Super Bowl rotation. It will be the first Super Bowl produced by ESPN in the Worldwide Leader’s history.

For Buck and Aikman, this will be their first Super Bowl since calling the Kansas City Chiefs beating the San Francisco 49ers in Feb. 2020. Buck has already referred to the upcoming Super Bowl LXI as the “biggest day in ESPN history.”

“This is a big thing for ESPN and ABC, and I don’t think that’s something that we should scoff at,” Buck told Deitsch. ”I think it’s something that should be celebrated. I love being at a place that holds this thing up. Like this is our chance. That’s a great feeling as an announcer. … The buildup, I love. I don’t think it adds any pressure. It doesn’t add any pressure to me. It just means that the people that I work for are excited about it, and that’s good.”

Hopefully for Buck, Aikman, and Monday Night Football, Super Bowl LXI won’t be their last broadcast at ESPN. It would be a major upset if ESPN manages to botch those negotiations, particularly after Buck already stated his intention to finish his career at the network. But no one was predicting they would leave Fox four years ago either.