Is Tony Romo leaving CBS? Explaining years remaining on broadcaster's $180 million contract

Tony Romo retired from the Dallas Cowboys in April 2017, but he was far from done with football. It's clear Romo adores the sport and the NFL as a league, as he decided that same year to jump into the booth.

Romo, alongside Jim Nantz, has been the face of CBS's NFL broadcasts. In the early stages of his career as an analyst, fans loved his knowledge and passion for the games he called.

There were several instances in which Romo would call out the play before it even transpired on the field.

Romo knows exactly what's going to happen every time 🔊 pic.twitter.com/8A8Sv5uZUM

After this early success, CBS and Romo agreed to a huge contract. However, since then, complaints from fans watching the broadcasts have grown louder, and his on-air performance has regressed.

The most recent example was Romo's performance in the wild-card game between the Buffalo Bills and Jacksonville Jaguars. The internet erupted with demands for Romo to be done.

It became hard for CBS to ignore these instances, and now they're reportedly deciding whether to keep Nantz and Romo.

The Sporting News has everything you need to know about whether or not Romo is leaving CBS.

MORE: Tony Romo responds to criticism for the Bills-Jags game

Is Tony Romo leaving CBS?

While there is no official confirmation yet, the question of whether Romo will be demoted is one of the more popular topics.

Criticism about Romo in the booth has been going on for years now. However, this past weekend might have been an all-time low. Romo himself admitted it wasn't up to par. 

“Yeah, we had a bunch of guys sick. We were just grinding through it, but you’re not gonna miss a playoff game, it’s too much fun,” said Romo in an interview with SiriusXM's Adam Schein.

Many are not buying this, as Romo has been inconsistent on the mic for the previous few seasons. So while there is no sign of Romo himself stepping down, there are talks that CBS may look elsewhere.

Tony Romo CBS contract details

After making his broadcasting debut in 2017, Romo was knocking it out of the park. Fans loved his unique style and ability to dissect plays. Romo was timely and informative without taking over the call. 

As a result, Romo signed a massive extension with CBS in 2020. This deal was reportedly worth $180 million over 10 years. At the time, this deal made Romo one of the highest-paid sports broadcasters of all time.

With this sort of investment, Romo's struggles are especially put under a microscope. There are currently four more years left on Romo's deal with CBS, but there's no guarantee he'll fulfill this contract.

Tony Romo broadcast criticisms

Somewhere along the way, fans became more critical of Romo's announcing, claiming that he detracted from the game rather than enhancing it for viewers.

However, nothing quite boiled over until there was a notable shift among the fans in how he called games involving Patrick Mahomes and Josh Allen.

"This is Mahomes throwing it in the dirt on purpose... He's got such great instincts... It's a winning play." - Tony Romo pic.twitter.com/Pcdt97LEU1

It seems as if more of the focus goes to highlighting these two spectacular players than to the game at hand. 

It's no secret that the NFL is a quarterback-driven league, but fans and those listening to the broadcast want deeper analysis when watching these high-stakes games.

MORE: Dave Portnoy calls out Tony Romo's broadcasting