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Tony Romo feels heat and CBS may already have replacement lined up as announcer hails rookie analyst’s star role
J.J. Watt set his sights on Tony Romo when they shared the NFL field, and now he might be coming for him in the booth, too.
The Houston Texans icon completed a different type of rookie season in 2025, working alongside Ian Eagle on CBS Sports’ No. 2 game announcing team.
Watt’s ascent to the booth happened quickly. After retiring from the NFL, he joined CBS in 2023 and served as a studio analyst for the first two years.
He was then promoted to color commentator alongside Eagle, after the latter’s longtime partner, Charles Davis, jumped into the network’s lead college football analyst role.
Watt, a minority owner of Premier League club Burnley, has garnered high praise in his rookie broadcasting season.
He was hailed for doing a ‘fantastic’ job in his debut back in September, and has grown in the months since.
The three-time NFL Defensive Player of the Year has been so good on the call, in fact, that Romo’s role as the lead color analyst at CBS could already be under threat.
Romo, a Dallas Cowboys legend, has been partnered with Jim Nantz on the No. 1 team for nearly a decade now, and is set to call Super Bowl LXII in 2028 (NBC will broadcast Super Bowl LX this year).
In his early years, the former quarterback was praised for both his enthusiasm, and his ability to predict offensive plays and read defensive formations from the booth.
But recently, some viewers have grown tired of his analysis, and his decline was laid bare in a ‘disaster-class’ on Wild Card weekend, as he called the Buffalo Bills win over the Jacksonville Jaguars in the playoffs.
With a vocal minority calling for change on social media, CBS could be forced to shake up their broadcast teams, and might already be considering elevating Watt.
J.J. Watt’s debut season praised by CBS veteran
After the Texans hero completed his rookie season, partner Eagle — who has called games for almost three decades with CBS — delivered some massive praise.
“It was amazing — truly,” he said of Watt’s effort.
“He is as good a dude as you think he would be, but despite all the accomplishment, despite the accolades, despite the fact that he’s going to the Hall of Fame, despite the fact that he stands out from a physical standpoint, he is as humble a person as I’ve been around and I think that’s what makes him so good on the air.”
Eagle credited Watt’s curiosity, willingness to ask questions, and his work ethic, as the main reasons for his success in the booth, and noted the will be ‘great for a long time’.
The 56-year-old continued: “He can hang on pop culture, entertainment.
“He can rally with me or Evan (Washburn) on a myriad of topics, and it’s not just limited to football talk all the time. He’s the perfect blend.
“He was even beyond what I thought it could be, which I thought could be really enjoyable.
“It went beyond it because he just brought his A-game every week, and he wanted to be great at this. And he is great at it, and he’s going to be great at it for a long time.”
As he often did when Watt was around on the field, Romo might need to be looking over his shoulder at CBS too.
For now, though, he will be concentrating on calling the weekend’s Divisional Round match-up between the Denver Broncos and the Bills, and will need to put in an improved effort from last Sunday.
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