Replacing Tony Romo Is At Least Plausible With New CBS Ownership

Tony Romo was one of the biggest stories coming out of Wild Card weekend, as several commentators and outlets called for CBS to bench him.

Many fans specifically urged the network to replace him with CBS’s B-team analyst, J.J. Watt. Both Romo and Watt trended throughout the Bills–Jaguars game, which Watt called alongside Jim Nantz.

"I don’t want to go crazy because I told you years ago, he was awful, and now everybody agrees," Chris "Mad Dog" Russo said Monday on his SiriusXM Radio show. "He is an absolutely horrendous broadcaster and he is stealing money."

Still, Russo said CBS is stuck with Romo.

"They can’t get rid of him. And the idea that the internet, the 23-year-olds who read Awful Announcing, think, ‘Why don’t they move Ian and J.J. Watt into that slot and move Nantz and Romo down?’ Are you crazy?"

"The idea that somehow, someway, we’re now gonna switch the broadcast teams because Romo is terrible — they’re not doing that," Russo continued. "What is saving Romo from dispatchment to game five with Adam Archuleta … is Nantz."

Russo is right that CBS is unlikely to replace Nantz, who remains the face of the network’s sports division. But Nantz and Romo are not necessarily a package deal.

The industry belief has long been that CBS would stick with Romo because the network owes him $17 million annually through 2030. Historically, CBS has been the most frugal of the major sports networks, which made its decision to re-sign Romo in 2020 for that sum surprising. But CBS is a different company now.

Enter David Ellison.

Ellison, the son of Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison, acquired CBS and the rest of Paramount’s assets last August, forming the new media conglomerate Paramount Skydance. Larry Ellison, worth roughly $200 billion, is the fourth-richest person in the world.

So far, David Ellison has been hands-off with CBS Sports. But he’s been aggressive elsewhere — hiring Bari Weiss to oversee CBS News, revamping the network’s morning and afternoon shows, and suing Warner Bros. Discovery for selling assets to Netflix instead of to him.

Ellison is one of the few people with the resources, ego, and ambition to replace Tony Romo while still paying him if he believes it benefits the brand.

If Ellison makes a move, it likely wouldn’t happen until after next season. For context, CBS’s next Super Bowl broadcast will be in 2028. It’s hard to imagine Ellison will let the negativity surrounding Romo hang over the first Super Bowl under his empire. 

To be clear, social media doesn’t like most broadcasters. Fans still complain about Joe Buck and Troy Aikman, accusing them of bias. But the criticism of Romo is different.

It’s not about bias. It’s about distraction. Nearly every week, Romo commits the cardinal sin of broadcasting by pulling focus from the game itself. His tangents, jokes, and nicknames undercut the action on the field.

Worse, he rarely enhances the broadcast. He often sounds unprepared or unaware of what’s happening in front of him. Compare that to the insight and context that Aikman or Tom Brady routinely provides.

Meanwhile, Romo can be heard making truly bizarre noises:

Here’s OutKick’s Zach Dean breaking down Romo’s latest performance:

"Sunday was, easily, his worst performance ever. It was borderline criminal. I knew when I heard that opening monologue about … the under/overdog Jags being able to beat the under/overdog Bills, we were gonna be in for a wild day. And Tony did NOT disappoint."

Romo’s outing stood out even more this past weekend because the six playoff games were split among five different broadcast partners, with many fans watching games back-to-back. The gap between Romo and his peers — Brady, Aikman, Olsen, Collinsworth, and Herbstreit — is stark.

As arguably the NFL’s most important broadcast partner, CBS can’t afford that. It’s unacceptable. And it’s hard to believe David Ellison will tolerate it long term.

According to sources, Romo’s contract prevents CBS from demoting him below the network’s top broadcast team. That means CBS would either have to pay him not to work or agree to a buyout.

If CBS does move on from Romo before Super Bowl LXII, the network could promote Watt or pursue the next high-profile player or coach entering the media space. Mike Tomlin, Sean McVay, and Matthew Stafford could all be names to watch.

Prediction: Tony Romo will not be in the CBS booth come Super Bowl 2028.