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Tony Romo Booted From the CBS Booth After Drunk-Driving Arrest Ends His Broadcast Run
CBS Sports and its longtime lead NFL analyst Tony Romo have "mutually agreed" to part ways, the network announced Friday, months after a Wisconsin drunk-driving arrest put the Hall of Fame-bound quarterback on leave.
Tony Romo's run as the top voice in CBS's NFL broadcast booth is over.
CBS Sports confirmed Friday that it has mutually agreed to part ways with Romo, its lead NFL color analyst since 2017, following his arrest on a Wisconsin highway earlier this year. According to ABC News, Romo was pulled over and arrested near Milwaukee on July 23 after officers found an open bottle of alcohol on the passenger side of his vehicle and observed him fail field sobriety tests. He was later found guilty of operating a vehicle while intoxicated after pleading no contest, and a court revoked his driving privileges for six months and ordered him to complete an alcohol assessment program.
CBS put Romo on leave almost immediately after the arrest became public, pulling him from the broadcast booth for the start of the season while the network weighed its options. That leave has now become a permanent exit.
JJ Watt Steps Into the Booth
Replacing Romo alongside play-by-play voice Jim Nantz is retired NFL defensive star JJ Watt, who had been easing into broadcasting since his 2024 retirement. The pairing gives CBS a fresh, high-profile voice for its marquee NFL window without missing a beat in its top broadcast slot.
CBS SPORTS AND TONY ROMO HAVE MUTUALLY AGREED TO PART WAYS.
Romo's rise from undrafted Dallas Cowboys backup to the NFL's highest-paid broadcast analyst was one of the more unlikely second acts in recent sports media history. After retiring from playing in 2017, he joined CBS and quickly earned a reputation for predicting plays before the snap, a skill that made him a fan favorite and helped justify a contract reportedly worth more than $17 million a year. That reputation had already taken some hits in recent seasons amid criticism that his commentary had grown repetitive, but it was Friday's announcement — not his play-calling — that finally ended the run.
Romo has not issued an extended public statement beyond acknowledging the arrest at the time it occurred. For CBS, the move closes out an uncomfortable chapter just as the network heads into the heart of its NFL season, with Watt and Nantz now set to call the network's biggest games through the rest of the year.