Tony Romo’s CBS Future a ‘Litmus Test’ for Jerry Jones’s Power

· Yahoo Sports

Jerry Jones has given Tony Romo a vote of confidence.

Last week, CBS placed the former Cowboys quarterback on indefinite leave following an incident in Wisconsin in which Romo was charged with OWI and accused of driving with an open container. With Romo’s return to his job as CBS’s top color commentator uncertain, the situation also serves as a barometer for how much sway Jones still has with the networks. 

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Jones sat down with local Dallas-area Fox anchor Mike Doocy at Cowboys training camp over the weekend and addressed the situation, acknowledging that he’s been in contact with Romo throughout the ordeal. 

“I love him. I love what he’s about. I love his character. I love his love of sport,” Jones said of Romo. “And he’s a very, very unique talent. And the real question is—and I don’t even have to ask what the answer is: Do you think Tony Romo knows how to get up when he gets knocked down? OK, he’s had a life of that. And absolutely, that’s one of his greatest attributes, is that he can handle adversity.”

Jones said that Romo’s “mesmerizing” field vision and quick thinking from when he was a quarterback has translated to TV and “made him a great, great portrayer of the story of football games.” 

“So, obviously, I’m a big fan of his, big fan of his family, and let me tell you right now, he’s as real as he sounds,” Jones said. “He feels every down time, he feels every up time.”

Jones is one of the last iconoclast owners in sports as the business has ballooned and become more corporate and buttoned-up. He has long wielded influence over the networks for the Cowboys to get top booking—and for ex-players to get prominent broadcasting jobs. 

It’s not a coincidence that the airwaves are full of former Cowboys. Troy Aikman, arguably the top color commentator in sports, works with Joe Buck on ESPN’s Monday Night Football after working for over 20 years at Fox Sports. Daryl “Moose” Johnston has been a color analyst for Fox for more than a quarter-century. Michael Irvin has had nine lives in sports media and currently has his podcast with league-partner Netflix and is on its NFL studio team. 

Jones famously advocated for former Cowboys captain Jason Witten to get the MNF job in 2018. The former tight end landed the gig, but was ultimately one and done in the broadcast booth. 

As for Romo—who has been CBS’s top NFL analyst since retiring from the Cowboys ahead of the 2017 NFL season—ProFootballTalk founder Mike Florio believes the situation is a “litmus test” of how much juice Jones, who left the league’s media committee in 2024, still wields with the rights partners. 

“Some believe Jerry doesn’t have the same power he once did, when it comes to the networks,” Florio told Front Office Sports. “This will be a good litmus test—if he does indeed try to intervene on Romo’s behalf.”

Romo’s on-screen performance over the last several seasons has complicated the situation. There have been a number of critics in the press and on social media of Romo’s chemistry with Jim Nantz, as well as his overall preparedness for games. He is owed more than $70 million over the next four years, and a morals clause in his contract could plausibly give the network an out in the deal, according to The Athletic. 

Nevertheless, CBS had its best regular-season NFL ratings ever last year, up 11% from 2024, including a record 57 million viewers for the Cowboys-Chiefs Thanksgiving tilt that Romo called. J.J. Watt, who did an exceptional job in his first season as a color commentator alongside Ian Eagle on CBS’s No. 2 NFL team last year, is filling in for Romo during the leave period. 

Since CBS parent Paramount’s sale to a group led by David Ellison last August, CBS News has undergone major personnel changes, but CBS Sports has largely remained intact. Paramount signed a seven-year, $7.7 billion contract for UFC to air on the Paramount+ streaming service, but it’s a turnkey operation from a talent perspective as UFC handles the production in-house. 

Thus, Romo’s incident is the first major decision in sports under Ellison’s regime. Would Jones call him directly to advocate for Romo to keep the job?

“Jerry will do whatever he thinks he needs to do to get the outcome he wants,” Florio told FOS. 

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