Tony Romo may no longer be CBS’ lead NFL analyst, but he probably still collects a significant portion of the network’s money.
According to Andrew Marchand of The Athletic, Romo and CBS reached a financial settlement before Friday’s announcement that the two parties were parting ways, citing industry sources who were not authorized to discuss private negotiations. Because the case never went to court, Marchand reports, the former Dallas Cowboys signal-caller will likely receive a good portion of the money remaining on his contract.
Romo signed a 10-year, $180 million contract with CBS in 2020, and he entered this season with about four years and $72 million remaining, worth about $18 million per year. Like almost all major talent contracts, Romo includes a morality clause, which gives networks reason to challenge a deal when a star can no longer represent the brand after a public embarrassment. Romo’s OWI arrest in Milwaukee in July and the body camera footage that followed gave CBS that opening, even though using it to void the contract would almost certainly have meant a lengthy legal battle.
Romo didn’t seem like someone ready to walk away. In his September statement, his first public comments since his arrest, he acknowledged an excessive reliance on alcohol while weaning himself off painkillers, while saying he looked forward to returning to CBS “on time.” The statement does not appear to have been coordinated with the network and CBS declined to comment, only offering its initial furlough announcement in response. By then, John Ourand of Puck had already reported that industry executives considered Romo’s tenure at CBS to be over, and weeks later he put the chances of Romo not returning at 95 percent. Noting that Romo made $18 million a year, Ourand suggested CBS saw a chance to save money, but predicted it would come down to a negotiation over how much it would take for Romo to leave without a fight.
By Friday, they had apparently reached that number.
CBS announced that she and Romo had mutually agreed to part ways and that JJ Watt would remain alongside Jim Nantz and Tracy Wolfson on the network’s top booth for the remainder of the season. Romo, in a personal statement, said he plans to take a break for the first time in his life and focus on his health and family before moving on to his next opportunity.
For CBS, the arrest offered an escape from a contract that many people at the network would have come to resent. Romo landed his 10-year, $180 million contract in 2020 after ESPN lobbied aggressively to lure him to Monday Night Footballforcing CBS to make him the highest paid analyst in sports television to keep him. Fox’s Colin Cowherd argued that CBS executives harbored resentment toward Romo since those negotiations, and that frustration had only increased as his on-air work declined. Romo’s tendency to fill airtime with noises, tangents and half-finished thoughts drew increasing criticism from viewers and prominent media voices, and in 2023, Marchand reported that CBS had staged what he described as an “intervention” with its lead analyst, with McManus visiting Romo at his home and lead producer Jim Rikhoff reviewing game footage with him over dinner to push him to prepare better. The network disputed that characterization, although Sean McManus, then president of CBS Sports, later acknowledged that he had given Romo feedback on how to improve. The concerns never completely went away, and as recently as January, Marchand questioned whether Romo was doing his homework, saying the trust and chemistry between Romo and Jim Nantz just wasn’t there.
The exact amount of Romo’s settlement has not been disclosed and it may never be disclosed. But given that CBS chose to negotiate rather than litigate, Romo won’t walk away empty-handed.
Gn sports
