The Top Contenders for Fox’s Lead NFL Announcing Team, per Report

The network is looking to replace Joe Buck and Troy Aikman, who departed for ESPN earlier this spring.

Following the departure of lead play-by-play analyst Joe Buck and lead color commentator Troy Aikman to ESPN, Fox has been in the market for a new lead broadcast team.

Fox made Kevin Burkhardt its lead play-by-play analyst to replace Buck in March, but the network has yet to name the full announcing team around him. 

According to a new report from Front Office Sports, the new announcing team could have not one but two color commentators flanking Burkhardt. 

One of the main candidates for the color commentating role is former NFL tight end Greg Olsen, who worked in the booth alongside Burkhardt with Fox's No. 2 announcing team last season. Olsen makes logical sense given his existing rapport with Burkhardt, but a decision has yet to be made.

Another name reportedly considered for a color commentator role with Burkhardt is recently-retired Saints coach Sean Payton.

Sources told Front Office Sports that Fox's top choice to pair with Burkhardt would be Michael Strahan, who is currently a co-host of the "Fox NFL Sunday" pregame show on the network. The report mentions that the network is unsure what Strahan's appetite would be to take on game-calling duties considering his weekday anchoring role with ABC's "Good Morning America".

Finally, there's Jay Cutler, who was hired into the announcing booth as the No. 2 analyst in 2017 before he returned to the field with the Dolphins.

If asked, Cutler would "love" to hold the role, per the report.