CBS Has Egg on Its Face as Tony Romo Is Already Floated for FOX NFL Sunday Job
Network reportedly wanted out of Romo’s enormous contract, may still pay him much of what remained, and now gets to enjoy the traditional corporate experience of watching the employee it dumped become interesting to the competition
The latest wrinkle comes from reporting that Tony Romo, barely removed from his CBS departure, is already being floated by commentators and fans as a possible future replacement for Terry Bradshaw on FOX NFL Sunday. FOX has not announced that it is hiring Romo, and Bradshaw has said he isn’t planning to retire, which makes this merely speculation. But for CBS, even the speculation has the unmistakable aroma of breakfast landing directly on management’s forehead.
Read the original report at The Spun
Thinking about CBS and Tony Romo
- CBS spent nine years calling Tony a genius and about nine seconds deciding the genius was a line item.
- Tony could predict the play before the snap; CBS couldn’t predict what a sports page would do with the word “settlement.”
- CBS turned a $180 million star into a $72 million question, a feat of mathematics normally reserved for casinos and cable bundles.
- If CBS were a defensive coordinator, it would blitz its own quarterback and then ask why nobody was open.
- Tony gave CBS nine years of Sunday afternoons; CBS gave Tony a press release with the word “mutually” in it, the one word nobody in that meeting meant.
CBS Discovers Tony Romo Can Date Other Networks
NEW YORK — Executives at CBS Sports reportedly spent the weekend examining an unfamiliar object found near corporate headquarters, later identified by consultants as consequence.
Only days after CBS and Romo officially “mutually agreed to part ways,” Romo’s name began circulating as a possible future addition to FOX’s NFL studio operation, with some observers specifically suggesting him as an eventual successor to Bradshaw. Again, FOX has announced no such deal, and Bradshaw has made clear he isn’t voluntarily wandering toward the retirement village just yet.
But satire does not require the deal to happen. The possibility is funny enough.
CBS spent nine years turning Romo into one of the most recognizable football broadcasters in America, signed him to a 10-year, $180 million contract, reportedly developed reservations about the arrangement, negotiated its way out of the relationship, and may now get to watch another network gaze across the broadcasting landscape and say:
“Is that Tony available?”
This is roughly equivalent to spending nine years restoring a 1967 Mustang, paying someone to haul it out of your garage, and then discovering your neighbor polishing it in his driveway.
Romo joined CBS in 2017 and quickly became known for identifying formations and predicting plays before they happened. CBS rewarded that success in 2020 with the gigantic contract. He eventually attracted more criticism for his broadcasting, and reports described growing frustration within CBS over his performance and preparation.
Then came his July OWI arrest in Wisconsin. Romo subsequently pleaded no contest, publicly accepted responsibility and discussed his struggle with alcohol after dealing with chronic pain and pain medication following his football career. CBS placed him on leave, and on October 2 the two sides announced their separation. J.J. Watt will remain alongside Jim Nantz and Tracy Wolfson for the rest of the season.
That personal matter is serious. What happened next in the television business, however, contains enough irony to power Manhattan.
CBS Gets Rid of Romo, Except Possibly the Paying-Him Part
According to reporting from Awful Announcing, citing The Athletic’s Andrew Marchand, Romo entered the season with roughly four years and $72 million remaining on his contract, and the two sides reached a settlement rather than waging a prolonged contractual battle. The exact terms remain private, but reporting suggests Romo may receive a significant portion of the remaining money.
This creates a wonderful new definition of unemployment.
Most Americans lose their job and immediately calculate how many weeks they can keep buying name-brand cereal. Tony Romo may leave his employer carrying a settlement derived from a contract worth tens of millions and then discover that competing television companies still know his telephone number.
CBS wanted salary relief. Romo may have received salary relief from the burden of having to show up.
Economists call this “asymmetric incentives.” Normal people call it “Man, I wish I could get fired like that.”
Our completely unscientific Prat.UK Office Poll asked six people what they would do if their employer paid them millions to leave. One said travel. Two said retire. Two asked whether they could be fired twice. The sixth was already standing outside Human Resources shouting, “I have some very disappointing news about my performance.”
Margin of error: everyone involved eventually bought a boat.
Has FOX Hired Tony Romo? Not Yet, Which Somehow Makes This Funnier
The crucial factual point is that FOX has not announced Tony Romo as Terry Bradshaw’s replacement.
The idea is currently being floated by sports-media writers and fans. The Spun highlighted suggestions that Romo might fit better in a pregame studio, and cited Awful Announcing’s Sam Neumann arguing that Romo could eventually take Bradshaw’s place after the 2027 season. Yahoo Sports carried the same chatter.
Bradshaw, meanwhile, has said retirement doesn’t particularly interest him. He has been part of FOX’s NFL coverage since the network acquired NFL rights in 1994 and has indicated that whether he stays with FOX ultimately depends partly on FOX.
So nobody has even offered Romo Bradshaw’s chair yet, and CBS still somehow looks nervous. That is elite-level egg. Egg applied prospectively. Pre-omelet humiliation. CBS is standing in the kitchen watching FOX take a frying pan out of the cupboard.
CBS May Have Accidentally Created the Perfect Comeback Story
Sports television loves redemption because sports television is built almost entirely on people being declared finished shortly before becoming expensive again.
A quarterback throws three interceptions. Finished. He wins six games. Veteran leadership. A coach gets fired. The game has passed him by. He wins somewhere else. Culture builder. A broadcaster becomes unpopular. Washed. Another network hires him. Fresh voice.
The television industry is essentially a giant machine that converts yesterday’s liabilities into tomorrow’s promotional graphics. As Awful Announcing put it, don’t cry for Tony: the comeback may be the easy part.
Imagine the FOX advertisement: TONY ROMO JOINS FOX NFL SUNDAY.
CBS executives would watch it from New York while simultaneously signing whatever installment the settlement agreement requires. That’s not a television commercial. That’s a ransom video with theme music.
J.J. Watt Now Has the Strangest Job Security in America
CBS has committed to J.J. Watt alongside Jim Nantz and Tracy Wolfson for the remainder of the season, which is perfectly reasonable. Watt is knowledgeable, accomplished and already familiar to viewers.
But the larger comedy is that NFL broadcasting now treats legendary football players the way airlines treat standby passengers.
“Mr. Watt, congratulations, seat 1A has become available.”
“Why?”
“We prefer not to discuss the previous passenger.”
Meanwhile Greg Olsen is at FOX, Tom Brady is at FOX, Romo is suddenly available, and every retired quarterback who can pronounce “Cover 2” without injuring himself is apparently one phone call away from an eight-figure television contract.
Somewhere a 43-year-old former backup quarterback is staring into his bathroom mirror practicing, “That safety cheated down, Kevin.” His wife knocks.
“Dinner’s ready.”
“CAN’T TALK. FOX COULD CALL.”
The Greatest Romo Prediction Yet
Romo’s broadcasting superpower was once anticipation. He would see the defensive alignment and announce what was about to happen.
“Watch the linebacker here, Jim.”
Snap. Linebacker moves. America gasps.
Perhaps the greatest possible conclusion to this whole episode would be Romo resurfacing on another network and proving that CBS managed to release the only analyst who could have warned CBS what happened next. You can practically hear the old Romo voice:
“Ehhhhhh, Jim, I don’t know. Look at FOX here. They’re showing interest. CBS thinks they’re going to blitz, but FOX might come underneath and pick up the broadcaster.”
Snap. FOX signs Romo. Touchdown.
Cut to CBS headquarters. One executive slowly removes his glasses. Another reaches for a napkin. A third asks the question nobody wants to answer:
“Does anybody know whether the settlement included syrup?”
Because CBS may ultimately be completely right. Watt may flourish. Romo may never join FOX. Bradshaw may remain behind that desk for years. Every decision may work perfectly.
But corporate humiliation is not measured solely by whether disaster ultimately occurs. Sometimes it is measured by whether, 72 hours after escorting your enormously expensive former star out the door, people begin discussing which chair he might occupy at your competitor.
That is not quite checkmate. But somebody has definitely moved the queen.
And CBS has egg on its face. The only remaining question is whether FOX orders toast.
15 Humorous Observations Before CBS Finds a Napkin
- CBS may have accomplished the rare corporate maneuver of paying a man not to work there so he can potentially work somewhere else. This is known in business school as “competitive advantage,” although normally the advantage is supposed to belong to you.
- Romo reportedly had about $72 million remaining on his CBS contract, and reporting suggests his settlement could leave him with a substantial portion of it. So CBS may have canceled the show while continuing to pay for premium cable.
- “Mutually agreed to part ways” remains corporate America’s favorite phrase for a divorce where both parties smile for the photograph while seventeen lawyers carry calculators out the back door.
- CBS replaced Romo with J.J. Watt. Now people are suggesting FOX might eventually replace Terry Bradshaw with Romo. NFL broadcasting has become musical chairs, except every chair comes with eight figures and a makeup department.
- Romo became famous for predicting plays before the snap. Apparently nobody at CBS asked him, “Tony, where do you see yourself in twelve months?”
- CBS executives reportedly had concerns about Romo before his July arrest. If he ends up succeeding at FOX, those concerns will immediately be reclassified as “a bold developmental program we initiated.”
- Bradshaw says he doesn’t intend to retire, meaning Romo is currently being discussed as the replacement for a man who has not vacated the chair. Television succession planning now operates like the British monarchy with better tailoring.
- CBS cited considerations involving its image and brand while Romo was on leave. Television executives care enormously about image, especially when the image has a Nielsen rating attached to it.
- If FOX someday hires Romo and ratings rise, CBS executives will explain that ratings are an outdated metric and the real victory is “organizational alignment.”
- CBS wanted financial flexibility. Romo may now have something even better: financial flexibility provided by CBS.
- The funniest possible ending would be Romo winning an Emmy at FOX and thanking CBS for “making this journey possible.”
- If FOX puts Romo beside Howie Long and Michael Strahan, America may discover the one place Tony cannot predict the next play: a studio discussion where everyone talks simultaneously.
- The phrase “morals clause” becomes considerably more fascinating when followed by “financial settlement.”
- Corporate America teaches that nobody is indispensable. Corporate sports television teaches the additional lesson that the supposedly dispensable person may reappear Sunday at noon on your competitor.
- CBS currently has not just egg on its face but the beginnings of an Eggs Benedict. One more report about FOX interest and somebody from catering is bringing hollandaise.
Disclaimer
This story is satire based on publicly reported events, including coverage from Variety and NBC News. The FOX-Romo scenario discussed above remains speculation, not an announced hiring. Romo has publicly accepted responsibility for his OWI matter and has said he intends to focus on his health and family before considering his next opportunity.
This article is entirely a human collaboration between two sentient beings: the world’s oldest tenured professor and a philosophy major turned dairy farmer, neither of whom has ever received $72 million for agreeing not to sit beside Jim Nantz, despite repeated informal applications.
SOURCE: Tony Romo Emerging as Replacement for FOX’s Terry Bradshaw, The Spun