Before Troy Aikman and Joe Buck had it out in the booth at SoFi Stadium, ESPN’s chairman asked Aikman a question that went to the heart of the dispute.

According to The Athletic, Aikman had a tense one-hour meeting with ESPN chairman Jimmy Pitaro before the Oct. 12 Rams-Bills game. The two discussed the rupture between Aikman and his longtime partner, and whether there is a future for the duo.

It is reported that Pitaro asked, “Could you still work with Joe?” Aikman said yes.

It turned out the meeting was only the opening act. The argument with Buck followed, and according to the sources, Buck started it by saying, “You are not going to f------ talk to me?”

Buck then defended himself. “I’m not the reason you don’t have a contract,” Buck said. Aikman, who had long suspected Buck of influencing the turnover of Monday Night Football producers and directors, shot back, “I just never thought you’d do it to me.” Buck answered, “They got rid of them because you were screaming at them.”

The Puck separately reported that Aikman told Buck, “You f----- me over.”

In 2022, Pitaro recruited both from Fox and gave them $165 million over five years, with Aikman receiving $90 million and Buck $75 million.

This spring, ESPN and Buck quietly reached a six-year, $108 million agreement, a 17.9 percent raise, without telling Aikman, and the network planned to keep it private until The Athletic reported it in September.

Aikman took the secrecy as a betrayal, and Buck’s side has said Aikman handled his own business the same way, including when he left Fox in 2022 without knowing whether Buck could follow him.

Aikman’s camp opened talks by using Tom Brady’s $37.5 million per year at Fox as a benchmark and asking for $30 million, then offered to accept the same raise Buck received, and ESPN declined and paused talks until after the Super Bowl.

Further, it seems the network does not want to invest in a relationship that has soured, is in cost-cutting mode with layoffs coming, and believes there is depth in the NFL analyst market.