Tony Romo is officially out of the CBS Sports broadcast booth.
Romo had been placed on indefinite leave from his role in the network’s No. 1 NFL broadcast team alongside Jim Nantz after he was arrested for OWI in Wisconsin over the summer. On Friday, CBS issued a statement announcing that Romo’s leave would be permanent, and he would not be returning to the network.
“CBS Sports and Tony Romo have mutually agreed to part ways. We thank Tony for his contributions over the past nine years and wish him the best moving forward,” the network’s statement read. “J.J. Watt will continue to partner with Jim Nantz and Tracy Wolfson on our lead NFL announce team for the rest of the season. All other teams remain the same, including Ian Eagle, Ross Tucker and Evan Washburn.”
Shortly after CBS’s statement, Romo issued his own statement looking back on his time with the network.
“I’m proud of what I accomplished at CBS Sports over the last nine years,” Romo said. “I approached my role as a game analyst the way I’ve approached everything in my life–with a desire to win and be the best that I can be. I’m going to use this time to take a break, something I’ve never done before, and focus on my health and my family before moving on to my next opportunity. I am grateful for my time with CBS Sports and for the continued support of my family and friends, as well as the NFL community and fans.”
The split marks the end of a whirlwind chapter for Romo, who was hired at CBS just a year after his NFL playing career and immediately joined Nantz as the color analyst on the No. 1 team. Romo’s first few years as a broadcaster were pretty magical, and he earned instant praise for his uncanny ability to predict what plays were coming. Over the years, though, that trick began to stale, and critics pointed to his apparent lack of preparation in some cases, which left him sometimes spouting noises at Nantz instead of fully formed thoughts.
After his arrest this summer, and the subsequent leave CBS placed him on, many thought his time at the network was over, and those predictions have proven correct.
Romo’s departure leaves him open to take on any number of other jobs across broadcasting, as sports media insider Richard Deitsch noted that his split from CBS allows him to take on new roles if he chooses. It also sets up CBS for a busy offseason in what was already expected to be a year of change across the NFL broadcasting landscape.
J.J. Watt is currently in the seat Romo formerly occupied next to Nantz, and three games into the partnership has received passable reviews but has certainly not fully claimed the role moving forward past this year. Greg Olsen is set to be a free agent at the end of the season, and with his ceiling likely limited at Fox with Tom Brady on the No. 1 team, he will be a popular name floated for any network looking for a reset. And while it still feels like a long shot that a deal doesn’t get done, it’s worth noting that Troy Aikman has yet to sign a new contract with ESPN, even though the network locked up his play-by-play partner, Joe Buck, on an extension in September. Further, with Amazon, Netflix, and other potential broadcasters looking to get in on the NFL action, we won’t know all of the potential open roles this year until we start seeing them filled. Heck, there could still be an Aaron Rodgers sweepstakes coming if things really get weird.
For now, Romo sounds content to take a step back, reset, and reassess before his next move.
About Tyler Lauletta
Tyler is a editorial contributor at Awful Announcing, with previous stops at Sports Illustrated and Business Insider during his career covering sports in digital media. He is, begrudgingly, a Truster of the Process and general Philly sports sicko.