Tony Romo’s disastrous summer has officially cost him his job at CBS. It may also result in one of the most lucrative severance packages in sports television history.
On Friday, CBS Sports announced that it and Tony Romo had “mutually agreed to part ways,” ending Romo’s nine-year run with the network and officially removing him from the lead NFL broadcast booth he once seemed destined to occupy for decades.
J.J. Watt, who replaced Romo after CBS placed him on indefinite leave following his July arrest for operating a vehicle while intoxicated, will remain alongside Jim Nantz and Tracy Wolfson on the network’s No. 1 NFL team.
So Romo is gone. But his enormous CBS contract is not quite so simple.
Romo signed a 10-year, $180 million contract with CBS in 2020. He was scheduled to earn $18 million per year through 2030, meaning he still had four years and $72 million remaining on the deal when CBS took him off the air.
And according to The Athletic, CBS did not simply fire Romo and tear up the remaining $72 million. Instead, the two sides negotiated a financial settlement before announcing their separation.
The exact amount has not been disclosed. But The Athletic reported that because Romo and CBS were able to avoid a court fight, Romo will likely receive a “good portion” of the money remaining on his contract. How would you define a “good portion“? I bet it’s A LOT OF MONEY…
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The $72 Million Problem
When we wrote about Romo’s arrest on July 31, the most fascinating question wasn’t whether CBS would temporarily remove him from the booth. It was what the network could possibly do about the enormous contract hanging over the situation.
Romo was only six years into his 10-year deal. Four additional seasons at $18 million apiece meant CBS potentially had another $72 million committed to an announcer it might no longer want on television.
At the time, we laid out several possibilities. CBS could eventually bring Romo back, demote him to a lesser broadcast team, try to terminate him for cause under a morals clause and risk a legal fight, or negotiate a buyout.
As we wrote at the time:
“The cleanest solution may be a negotiated buyout. CBS could pay Romo a portion of the remaining $72 million in exchange for ending the contract without arbitration or litigation.”
Two months later, that appears to be exactly what happened.
Neither side has disclosed the settlement, which leaves one extremely expensive question unanswered: How much of the $72 million did Tony Romo actually get?
Even a heavily discounted settlement would represent an extraordinary payday. If CBS agreed to pay Romo just half of what remained on his contract, he would receive $36 million. A 75% settlement would be $54 million. If Romo managed to preserve nearly all of the remaining value, his payout could approach the full $72 million.
Again, there is currently no reporting establishing the actual percentage. But “a good portion” of $72 million is an enormous amount of money under almost any reasonable interpretation. And unlike the first six years of his CBS deal, Romo won’t have to spend Sunday afternoons studying quarterbacks, predicting coverages or sitting next to Jim Nantz to earn it.
Why Would CBS Pay Him Anything?
At first glance, the situation might seem bizarre. Romo was arrested, CBS placed him on leave, and he later pleaded no contest to the OWI offense. His blood alcohol concentration was measured at 0.15, nearly twice Wisconsin’s legal limit.
So why wouldn’t CBS simply fire him and stop paying?
Because television contracts worth $180 million tend to be considerably more complicated than ordinary employment agreements. Romo’s full contract has never been made public, and major broadcasting deals typically contain provisions governing misconduct, suspensions, termination and behavior that could damage an employer’s reputation.
The precise wording of those provisions matters enormously. A morals clause might give CBS broad authority to terminate Romo, or it might only allow certain forms of discipline. There could also be arguments over whether a particular incident constitutes cause, whether the network followed the required process or whether some portion of the contract remains guaranteed regardless.
That was always the potential danger for CBS. If the network terminated Romo, stopped paying him and Romo challenged the decision, the two sides could have ended up fighting over tens of millions of dollars in arbitration or court.
CBS might have won. Romo might have won. Or they could have spent years and millions of dollars finding out.
Instead, they apparently found a number both sides could live with. CBS gets certainty, removes Romo from its lead booth and moves forward with Watt. Romo gives up whatever claim he might have had to the entire remaining $72 million in exchange for what is apparently still a very large amount of money.
From $3 Million To $180 Million
The size of Romo’s potential goodbye check is even more remarkable considering how quickly his broadcasting career took off.
When Romo retired from the Dallas Cowboys in 2017, CBS stunned the industry by immediately placing a completely inexperienced broadcaster beside Nantz on its top NFL team. The gamble worked spectacularly.
Romo became a sensation almost overnight. He brought the perspective of a quarterback who had seemingly just walked off the field, diagnosing defenses before the snap and frequently predicting what was about to happen. His enthusiasm and ability to explain complicated strategy to casual viewers quickly drew comparisons to legendary broadcaster John Madden.
His original CBS deal paid him between $3 million and $4 million per year. Then ESPN came calling.
As Romo approached free agency in 2020, ESPN was prepared to pay him as much as $14 million annually to become the face of “Monday Night Football.” CBS responded with an offer that reset the entire sports-broadcasting salary market:
10 years. $180 million. $18 million per year.
Romo stayed, and for a time, the decision looked perfectly reasonable. CBS had locked up the most celebrated new analyst in sports television during a period when NFL broadcasting rights were becoming increasingly valuable.
But Romo’s reputation eventually cooled. The play predictions became less frequent, his energetic style became increasingly polarizing, and critics complained that he talked too much, missed details and occasionally seemed less prepared than he had during his celebrated first few seasons.
None of that ended the relationship. His July arrest did.
The Arrest That Changed Everything
Romo was arrested in Milwaukee on July 23 after participating in a golf tournament. Authorities said he was stopped after passing traffic on the right and driving through a restricted section of highway.
Romo initially told officers that he had not consumed alcohol and refused a preliminary breath test. His blood alcohol concentration was later measured at 0.15, and authorities said an open bottle of alcohol was found inside his vehicle.
CBS placed Romo on indefinite leave eight days later and promoted Watt into the network’s lead booth. In September, Romo pleaded no contest to the civil OWI offense and publicly accepted responsibility.
At the time, however, Romo still appeared to believe his CBS career would resume. In a statement announcing his plea, he said he was turning his attention to his health and family and, eventually, to his “return to CBS.”
That return will never happen.
On Friday, Romo said he was proud of what he had accomplished during his nine years at the network and planned to take a break before pursuing another opportunity.
“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,” Romo said.
Getting Paid Not To Work
Romo has already made an extraordinary amount of money. During his NFL career, he earned more than $127 million in salary from the Dallas Cowboys. His CBS contract then transformed him into the highest-paid game analyst in television history.
Now he could be receiving one final massive CBS payday, except this time there are no games to prepare for, no production meetings, no flights around the country, no three-hour broadcasts and no Super Bowls alongside Jim Nantz.
CBS is moving on. J.J. Watt has his seat. Tony Romo gets to go home.
We don’t yet know whether his settlement is $20 million, $30 million, $50 million or something approaching the entire $72 million that remained on his contract. But according to the best reporting available, CBS is paying Romo a substantial amount of money to end their relationship rather than fighting him over the contract.
Which means Tony Romo’s final payday from CBS could wind up being the easiest money of his broadcasting career: tens of millions of dollars for games he will never have to call.
