As we watch the cold war between CBS Sports and Tony Romo play out over whether he’ll return to their top booth alongside Jim Nantz this season (or ever), there are certain Rubicons along the way that might give us our answer.
Week 4 is one of them. With Nantz and new partner J.J. Watt returning from Brazil, it was thought that perhaps that would be a point at which Romo could slot back in before the season really got going. However, that does not appear to be the case.
As noted by Underscore Media’s Jimmy Traina, Nantz and Watt will be on the call this Sunday for the big AFC West showdown between the Kansas City Chiefs and Las Vegas Raiders.
Now, when it comes to reading the tea leaves, there’s only so much you want to make of it. However, the longer Nantz and Watt build rapport and settle in together, the less incentive CBS has to break up the band. Especially when doing so will create a domino effect across their other NFL booths, which are also adjusting in the wake of Romo’s indefinite leave following an OWI arrest in August.
While Romo has made it clear he’d like his job back, CBS has been noticeably tight-lipped and curt about that possibility. Meanwhile, just about every sports media insider has signaled they think the end is nigh and it’s just a matter of negotiating the monstrous amount of money the former Dallas Cowboys quarterback is still owed.
Looking ahead, the next obvious Rubicon along this path comes right around Thanksgiving. CBS’s A-booth routinely pulls double duty around the holiday, with the specifics depending on that year’s calendar. As such, they tend to get a Sunday off in there to recuperate. If there’s ever a time for CBS to figure out how to bring Romo back while also rejiggering all their other booths accordingly, it’s then. It also gives them some time for the revised booths to settle in before the playoffs get here.
If all of that sounds overly complicated, especially given how decently the Nantz-Watt booth is working, you’re probably not alone. And if CBS is still considering bringing Romo back this season (which is a big if), we’ll almost certainly know by then.
If we’re not hearing Romo make his weird noises or say “I don’t know, Jim” by then, the conversation will officially shift to whether he ever returns to a CBS NFL booth.