CBS places Tony Romo on indefinite leave after OWI arrest, JJ Watt steps into lead analyst role

CBS Sports placed lead NFL analyst Tony Romo on indefinite leave Friday, one week after his arrest on suspicion of operating a vehicle while intoxicated in Milwaukee. The network elevated JJ Watt, the former NFL defensive player of the year, to partner with play-by-play announcer Jim Nantz and sideline reporter Tracy Wolfson on its number-one broadcast team.

“Tony Romo is on leave from his role at CBS Sports until further notice.”

The traffic stop

Romo, 46, was pulled over on July 23 around 6:15 p.m. while traveling southbound on Interstate 43. According to citations from the Milwaukee County Sheriff's Office, he had passed several vehicles in a gore area, the zone between the interstate lane and an on-ramp merge lane. Officers noted his eyes were "red and glassy" and he smelled of alcohol. Romo performed poorly on standardized field sobriety tests, was taken into custody, booked, and released around 11 p.m. that evening.

Body camera footage released earlier this week shows Romo telling deputies he was coming from a golf course and was on his way "to visit grandma and grandpa." During an inventory of his black Jeep before it was towed, deputies found an open bottle of an alcoholic beverage on the passenger side. Romo subsequently refused an intoxication test after his arrest, resulting in an additional citation.

Penalties and court date

Romo faces a citation for operating a vehicle while under the influence, carrying a fine of $1,066 according to the police report, plus a $235 fine for unsafe passing on the right and a $267 fine related to the offense. A first-offense OWI in Wisconsin is generally a civil offense, not a criminal charge. A court date is set for September 21, though Romo is not required to appear in person.

The contract at stake

Romo has been CBS's lead game analyst since 2017, working alongside Nantz. He is midway through a 10-year, $180 million contract signed in 2020 that runs through the 2030 season, paying a reported $17 million per year. The deal calls for roughly $72 million over the next four years. The New York Times reported that a top sports media executive called it "the worst contract in media history" at the time it was signed, citing Romo's declining on-air performance in recent seasons.

Watt steps in

JJ Watt, who joined CBS as a studio analyst in 2023 and moved to the number-two game booth alongside Ian Eagle last season, will fill the vacancy. The NFL regular season begins September 9 with the Seattle Seahawks facing the New England Patriots. CBS's first Sunday broadcast is September 13, a matchup between the Minnesota Vikings and Green Bay Packers. A nationally televised preseason game between the Cincinnati Bengals and Philadelphia Eagles airs August 28.

“JJ Watt will join Jim Nantz and Tracy Wolfson as CBS Sports' lead NFL team during Romo's absence.”

What comes next

CBS's marquee late-afternoon game on September 27 features the Dallas Cowboys against the Baltimore Ravens from Brazil. The network has its NFL seminar for on-air talent and production staff in less than two weeks, a session Romo was expected to attend. With a Super Bowl on CBS's schedule for February 2028, questions surround whether Romo can reclaim his seat if he misses the opening month of the season. The arrest also arrives as CBS parent Paramount Skydance navigates early discussions with the NFL about terms of a new rights deal, triggered by the company's change of control.