Dallas Cowboys Legend Troy Aikman Nearly Came out of Retirement to Join Another NFL Team

Troy Aikman played for the Dallas Cowboys for the entirety of his NFL career. However, the three-time Super Bowl champion quarterback came very close to player for another franchise following his retirement. In a recent interview on The Adam Schefter Podcast, Aikman said came close to returning to the NFL in 2003 to join the Miami Dolphins.

Aikman announced his retirement following the 2000 season and played in the league for just 12 seasons. During the interview, Aikman told Adam Schefter that he wanted to play for the Dolphins since he knew two coaches who were working for the team at the time. 

"I had a chance initially and I was gonna do it quite honestly," Aikman said, per Awful Announcing. "I was gonna come back and the Dolphins were looking at me. Dave Wannstedt was the head coach. Norv Turner was the offensive coordinator. I had trained that offseason, prepared to come back and play. And they felt like they were a quarterback away from achieving what they wanted to do."

Aikman, who retired from the NFL in 2001, has connections with Turner and Wannstedt as they both were on the Cowboys coaching staff in the early 1990s. "So, I was gonna do it," Aikman continued. "I thought, 'Well, I'll give it a shot.' Rick Speilman was the general manager (Speilman was the Senior vice president of football operations) and he ultimately was the one, I believe, that decided not to sign me, which was probably a good thing from their perspective. And it was a great thing from my perspective because they weren't a quarterback away. I think they won six games that year. They were not very good. It all worked out just fine."

The 2003 Dolphins finished with a 10-6 record but missed the playoffs due to a tiebreaker with the Denver Broncos. The starting quarterback was Jay Fiedler, who threw for 2,138 yards, 11 touchdowns and 13 interceptions in 12 games. Aikman was in the early stages of his broadcasting career and is now entering his 22nd season in the booth with Joe Buck. The two will make their 2023 debut on Monday when the Buffalo Bills take on the New York Jets on ESPN's Monday Night Football.

Aikman, 56, played for the Cowboys from 1989 to 2000 and had a memorable career. He was named to the Pro Bowl six times, led the Cowboys to three Super Bowl wins and was named MVP of Super Bowl XXVII. Aikman played college football at UCLA and led the Bruins to a national championship in 1985.