After a 12-year playing career that saw him win three Super Bowls, former Dallas Cowboys quarterback Troy Aikman is diving a little further behind the curtain ahead of the 2026 season.
He joined the Miami Dolphins in January as a consultant to aid them in hiring their next general manager and head coach, but his duties don’t appear to be ending there.
HOF WR Michael Irvin Hurt by Troy Aikman’s Latest Venture
The brief period during which Aikman helped the Dolphins’ search turned out to be much more than that. Even after hiring Jon-Eric Sullivan as their next general manager and Jeff Hafley as their head coach, Aikman revealed that he intended to stick around in the Dolphins’ organization as a consultant.
Aikman has managed to transcend his Hall of Fame career and become a renowned broadcaster, mostly alongside Joe Buck, for more than two decades. However, according to Aikman’s former go-to target, Michael Irvin, the six-time Pro Bowl quarterback wanted a “John Elway” type of situation in Dallas.
Elway, who played 16 seasons with the Denver Broncos, became the team’s general manager in 2011 and was promoted to president of football operations in 2021.
“It does pain me to see that,” Irvin said at an event in Dallas in a video posted to X by DLLS Cowboys. “For any club not to try to glean as much as you can from a guy like Aikman, whose job is to go and talk to teams, talk to coaches, and bring in an understanding of what’s going on behind the scenes to the world.
“There is no better place of information than to get from a guy like Troy Aikman.”
Michael Irvin says it “pains him” for his QB1, Troy Aikman, contributing to the Miami Dolphins and not getting the opportunity with the Dallas Cowboys. pic.twitter.com/HPyYxguiBX
— DLLS Cowboys (@DLLS_Cowboys) May 26, 2026
The opportunity for Aikman to rise through the executive ranks in Dallas and potentially become the team’s general manager was never going to happen with Jerry Jones at the helm. Aikman would eventually reveal that the Cowboys never offered him a similar consultant role to the one he was hired for in Miami.
“It hurts me, it pains me to see that happen,” Irvin said. “Because I knew Troy wanted a John Elway situation here in Dallas, and I know he wanted it and he’s certainly earned it, but it’s not going to happen.”
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The new regime in Miami has already made some significant personnel changes, most notably at quarterback. The team released quarterback Tua Tagovailoa, eating a $99.2 million dead cap hit, and quickly replaced him with former Green Bay Packers quarterback Malik Willis.
Tagovailoa struggled mightily in 2025, ranking No. 27 in PFSN’s Quarterback Impact Metric (QBi) and throwing the second-most interceptions (15) despite playing in only 14 games. The former Pro Bowler has shown flashes of elite play during his time with the Dolphins, but when combined with his poor play last year, injuries, and the large contract, the Dolphins decided it was best to start fresh at quarterback.
