"He Has 17 More Games": Clock is Ticking for J.J. Watt to Secure CBS Job Amid Tony Romo's Absence
· Yahoo Sports
J.J. Watt didn’t expect to land in CBS Sports’ No. 1 NFL booth this way, after Tony Romo’s arrest, but the clock on proving himself is already ticking. Awful Announcing’s Drew Lerner laid out how tight that window actually is during a recent episode of “The Play-By-Play LIVE,” and that Greg Olsen, a potential replacement for Watt in the No. 1 booth, is already in the wings.
Visit syntagm.co.za for more information.
Lerner argued that Watt’s temporary promotion to CBS’s top NFL broadcast team in place of Tony Romo is really a season-long audition, one with a seeming deadline attached.
“I think Greg Olsen is nearly guaranteed a top analyst job at this point, be that at Amazon or at CBS next year. I really think right now we look at the CBS job and it’s JJ Watt’s to lose,” Lerner said on the podcast. “So he has 17 more games, 17 more weeks to prove that he can be a good partner with Jim Nantz, that he can be a top guy.”
Lerner highlighted that CBS has the broadcasting rights for the 2028 Super Bowl, so the American media giant won’t wait around too long for Watt to develop into the role.
“I think they have to show signs of improvement throughout this year for CBS to be confident that that team could call a Super Bowl next year,” added Lerner. “If not, they might make a pretty strong play for Olsen because I think Olsen’s a guy you can plug and play and be very safe to know that he can call a Super Bowl confidently.”
Watt landed in this spot because of circumstances entirely outside his control. Longtime CBS lead analyst Tony Romo was arrested in Wisconsin in July on suspicion of operating a vehicle while intoxicated, with police reportedly finding an open bottle of alcohol in his car.
CBS placed Romo on indefinite leave shortly afterward, and while Romo said in a September 1 statement that he plans to focus on his health, family, and “in time, my return to CBS,” the network has given no firm timeline for when that return might happen.
That left CBS’s No. 1 broadcast booth open, and Watt, who had spent just one prior season calling games alongside Ian Eagle after moving over from the “NFL Today” studio desk, was elevated to pair with Jim Nantz and Tracy Wolfson instead. Watt addressed the unusual circumstances directly during CBS’s annual NFL Media Day event in August, making clear he wasn’t taking the moment lightly.
“I’m so excited,” Watt told Front Office Sports. “A three-time Emmy winner. You’ve got a Hall of Famer. It’s an opportunity for me to work with the absolute best of the best at the highest level in the business.”
Lerner’s larger point centers on Fox analyst Greg Olsen, who Puck’s John Ourand has separately reported is very much on CBS’s radar as a longer-term alternative to Watt. Olsen reportedly carries a contract clause allowing him to leave Fox if a No. 1 job opens elsewhere, though that clause reportedly couldn’t be exercised in time for this season regardless of Romo’s situation. Olsen has been open about wanting another shot at a top broadcast team after getting bumped down Fox’s depth chart once Tom Brady arrived.
“I can still seek to go out and reach the highest levels of this profession, and [by] no means does that mean I want it to be at the expense of Tom,” Olsen said. “And Tom wants to continue to ascend and achieve everything he wants. That doesn’t have to come at the expense of me. My success is not contingent upon Tom’s failure, and vice versa.”
The conversation on Awful Announcing also briefly moved away from Watt. Co-host Brendon Kleen brought up Mike Tomlin’s move into NBC’s booth, recalling how much promotional material the network produced around Tomlin’s debut on Sunday Night Football.
Watt, meanwhile, has an entire season to make his case alongside Nantz. ESPN owns the rights to Super Bowl LXI in February 2027, but CBS still has to determine who it wants leading its booth in the year after.
Trending Articles
- Chiefs Star Kenneth Walker Fined by NFL for Violating Rule Against Broncos
- Chiefs Officially Drop Arrowhead Name Ahead of $3B Move to New Stadium in Kansas
- NFL Suffer Major Blow After Week 1 as Viewership Ratings Take Alarming Nosedive
- “This Is Your Fault”: Colin Kaepernick’s Wife Makes Her Feelings Clear After Ex-49ers QB’s Taylor Swift Confession
- Roger Goodell Announces NFL Expansion Plans in Canada and Europe
The post "He Has 17 More Games": Clock is Ticking for J.J. Watt to Secure CBS Job Amid Tony Romo's Absence appeared first on EssentiallySports. Add EssentiallySports as a Preferred Source by clicking here.