JJ Watt, the former defensive end, will take on one of the biggest on-air roles in sports after officially being named the new lead NFL analyst for CBS Sports, being handed the post following the exit of his predecessor, Tony Romo.
Watt will continue to call CBS’ top games alongside Jim Nantz and Tracy Wolfson — including next season when the network telecasts Super Bowl LXII from Atlanta.
“I’ve had a front-row seat to JJ’s growth as a top-tier broadcaster, watching him tackle this role just like he did his hall-of-fame playing career,” said David Berson, chairman of the global sports group at Skydance, CBS’ corporate parent, in a statement. “He’s insightful, entertaining, passionate, meticulous in his preparation, and the ultimate teammate. He has a unique ability to see things and communicate to fans of all levels. We are thrilled to have him leading our NFL coverage.”
Watt joined CBS Sports in 2023 as a studio analyst on “The NFL Today.” Last season, Watt moved to the booth to call games with Ian Eagle and Evan Washburn. At the start of the 2026 season, he began calling games with the Network’s lead team, working with Nantz and Wolfson. He has been filling in for Romo, whoin September pleaded no contest to a charge of operating while intoxicated stemming from an incident that took place in Milwaukee in July.
He did not. CBS Sports and the former quarterback said earlier this month that they would split, a move sports-media aficionados attributed to some disillusionment with Romo’s recent on-air performance.
Watt also has critical on-the-field experience., having played for the Houston Texans and Arizona Cardinals. He is the only player in NFL history to record multiple seasons with at least 20 sacks.
TV-sports outlets have been pouring out money to lure top NFL announcers, with Fox and Disney shelling out top dollar to lure, respectively, Tom Brady and Troy Aikman and Joe Buck. Many top announcers’ contracts are expected to lapse after the end of this season, including not only Aikman’s, but Greg Olsen’s at Fox, and Al Michaels’ at Amazon. ESPN has secured Buck to a new deal — but so far, not Aikman — and Amazon has signed Kirk Herbstreit, who also calls college game at ESPN, to provisional terms. ESPN and Amazon have so far declined to comment on the status of those announcers’ deals.
TV networks rushed to line up top talent to call games after the NFL struck a pivotal 11-year rights deal in 2021. At the time, the thought from many TV sports chiefs was that they had to spend money to make money. Romo carved out new terrain at CBS Sports after revealing a knack for predicting game play — all but forcing CBS to re-sign the former Dallas Cowboys quarterback to a multi-season pact in 2020 valued at around $17 million a year.
Since that time, most of CBS’ contemporaries have followed suit. When ESPN signed former Fox Sports mainstays Buck and Aikman to deals in 2022 to call “Monday Night Football,” it was seen as a critical move that would help the Disney-backed sports-media giant soothe what had become a troubled relationship with the NFL. Amazon lured NBC Sports’ Al Michaels and ESPN’s Herbstreit to serve as the voices for “Thursday Night Football.” And Fox secured the services of none other than Brady, a move that crowded out sportscaster Olsen.
People familiar with the market estimate top football-booth personnel can earn between $15 million and $20 million per season.
CBS Sports may have other talent issues to juggle in weeks to come. Ian Eagle, a veteran who calls secondary NFL games for CBS Sports, is also believed to have a contract that is set to lapse. He also calls NBA games for Amazon’s Prime Video.