CBS Makes It Permanent: J.J. Watt Is Its Lead NFL Analyst, Replacing Tony Romo

CBS announced on Thursday that J.J. Watt is its lead NFL game analyst — permanently, on a new multi-year agreement, effective now. Watt, 37, has been in the role all season as the interim; the deal runs at least through Super Bowl LXII in Atlanta in February 2028, CBS’s first Super Bowl since LVIII. The rest of the lead team is unchanged: Jim Nantz continues on play-by-play and Tracy Wolfson on the sideline. The announcement came from David Berson, chairman of Skydance’s Global Sports Group.

Watt: “I am incredibly honored and grateful to have the opportunity to represent CBS Sports… From the brotherhood of ‘The NFL Today’ to my crews calling games, I couldn’t ask for better teammates alongside me on this television journey. I am thankful to David Berson for his leadership, vision and trust. I love this job and can’t wait to see ya Sunday with Jim and Tracy and many more Sundays to come!” Berson: “I’ve had a front-row seat to J.J.’s growth as a top-tier broadcaster, watching him tackle this role just like he did his Hall of Fame playing career… We are thrilled to have him leading our NFL coverage.” In a video posted to his own account the same day, Watt said he learned the news on Monday from a missed call from Berson — and that he had joked he feared he was “in trouble, for potentially breaking Jim Nantz’s hand on the broadcast on Sunday with our ball drill.”

Watt replaces Tony Romo, the network’s lead analyst since 2017. Romo was placed on leave after a July arrest for operating while intoxicated in Wisconsin; he pleaded no contest to three related charges, per USA Today. Watt filled in from Week 1. On October 2, CBS and Romo “mutually agreed to part ways” — “We thank Tony for his contributions over the past nine years,” the network said. Romo is gone entirely, not demoted, and said he would focus on his health and family.

Watt’s path through the network was quick. He joined CBS in 2023 as a studio analyst on The NFL Today and spent two seasons there, moved to the booth in 2025 on the No. 2 team with Ian Eagle and Evan Washburn, and was elevated to the No. 1 team this summer. As a player he was a three-time NFL Defensive Player of the Year with 114.5 sacks for Houston (2011–20) and Arizona (2021–22), and he becomes eligible for the Hall of Fame in 2028.