Tony Romo will not begin the 2026 NFL season as CBS's No. 1 NFL analyst.
CBS announced earlier this week that Romo is being put on indefinite leave at the company. Romo, 46, was arrested on suspicion of OWI in Milwaukee, Wisconsin last week. He was pulled over on a highway and taken in for a field sobriety test. Romo was ultimately arrested and he is set to appear in court in September.
Romo, who serves as CBS's No. 1 in-game analyst, working with Jim Nantz, will be sidelined to start the year. CBS will promote J.J. Watt to the network's No. 1 game analyst role. It's unclear when - or if - Romo will be back.
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Jerry Jones, meanwhile, has shown a lot of support for Romo.
“I love him,” Jones said, speaking to Fox 4. “I love what he’s about. I love his character. I love his love of sport. And he’s a very, very unique talent. And the real question is — and I don’t even have to ask what the answer is: Do you think Tony Romo knows how to get up when he gets knocked down? He had a life of that. And absolutely, that’s one of his greatest attributes, is that he can handle adversity.
“And so this is something that he will work through. He is a unique talent. His vision was just mesmerizing when he was a player. But he sees things and can articulate it so instantly. He’d walk out under center, at our practice, and the defense would have 12 people out there, and it’d take him about a second to say, ‘Coach, we got 12 guys out here. Get one of them off, on the deal.’ He just sees it, and then he goes — he has that skill. It’s made him a great, great portrayer of the story of football games. So, obviously, I’m a big fan of his, big fan of his family, and let me tell you right now, he’s as real as he sounds. He feels every down time, he feels every up time.”
But Romo's contract is looking rough
In 2020, Romo signed a 10-year deal for $180 million. It's now been declared the "worst" contract in sports media history.
Romo has four years and $72 million remaining on the deal.
“This is the worst contract in media history," a top media executive told The Athletic's Andrew Marchand.
Romo still has time to prove his critics wrong, but it's not looking good.
