The end of Tony Romo’s tenure at CBS marks an obvious inflection point in his nearly decade-long career. The question now is whether, or if, he will return to TV.
Romo’s exit adds more uncertainty to an NFL TV analyst hot stove that has begun to warm up in recent weeks. ESPN’s Troy Aikman is in the final year of his contract and said in a recent podcast with Richard Deitsch that he had expected a new deal by now. Amazon Prime Video this week renewed its contract with Kirk Herbstreit, but per Andrew Marchand of The Athletic, has the flexibility to move on if a preferred option comes along. Greg Olsen of FOX, who was briefly the network’s lead analyst and even called a Super Bowl before being demoted in favor of Tom Brady, is also in the final year of his deal.
Five years ago, Romo would have been at the top of the list of potential options for any network. Before he joined CBS in 2017, Fox Sports wanted his services. When CBS re-signed him in 2020, ESPN made a reported push.
Now, with perceptions of his work having eroded considerably, it is not clear when or even whether Romo will get a second look.
He may have to work his way back, akin to Drew Brees, who joined NBC Sports fresh out of retirement in 2020 with at least some expectation that he would eventually replace the aging Cris Collinsworth on “Sunday Night Football.” But Brees failed to distinguish himself in his primary role working Notre Dame football games alongside Mike Tirico, and then flopped in his highest-profile assignments, an NFL Thanksgiving night game and — worst of all — a Wild Card playoff game.
Brees was done after a single season, but unlike Jason Witten — whose single year on “Monday Night Football” may have been the most disastrous debut of the modern era — he did not leave broadcasting for good. He expressed interest in returning to broadcasting and confidence in his abilities, ultimately getting a second look with Fox Sports after Mark Sanchez’ bizarre arrest last year.
Sanchez is worth mentioning here. The former USC QB was never one of the top-tier NFL analysts, but he had established for himself a solid career. His violent Indianapolis confrontation last year — in which he maimed a man and nearly got himself killed the night before a scheduled assignment for FOX — is almost certainly a career-ending foul. (Sanchez will be fortunate to ever call a high school game again, much less the NFL.)
Romo’s arrest, the pretense for his exit from CBS, is not career-ending. The number of sportscasters with DUI arrests is not small, and few of them have even lost their jobs as a result — much less been banished permanently — even in cases where jail time was involved. Thom Brennaman got a second chance after an on-air slur and Marv Albert after a lurid, highly-publicized scandal. It is hard to imagine that Romo will not get a second look.
To be frank, had the tide not turned on Romo’s performance, there is an argument to be made that he would not have missed a single game.
Romo is a bit like a high-priced player in decline. For the contract — $17 million/year, per reports — and the role, he was clearly no longer a good fit at CBS and the network was quite obviously looking for a way out. An expensive player in decline who runs afoul of the law if probably getting cut. But with a smaller contract and a lesser role, Romo is still a charismatic, well-known analyst with experience calling the biggest games.
His exit from CBS is ill-timed, as next season may be too early for him to return to prominence. All the biggest roles may be filled by the time he is ready to, in his words, move on to his “next opportunity.” That may be to his benefit. Returning on a FOX regional team, or on ESPN’s NFL Network crew, may be a better way to ease his way back. And with turnover now a reality of life in NFL broadcast booths, it may not be long before an opportunity opens up.
Romo, in his statement Friday, said that he has approached his role as a game analyst the way he has done everything in life, “with a desire to win and be the best” that he can be. Realistically, that has not appeared to be the case the past few seasons, as he has seemed to clearly rest on his laurels and resort to schtick over insight. But if he is serious about that approach, he quite obviously has the talent to call games at the highest levels. He will just have to prove it again over time.
