CBS has a Tony Romo problem
PEBBLE BEACH, CA - FEBRUARY 07: Tony Romo addresses the media ahead of the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am on the Pebble Beach Golf Links on February 7, 2018 in Pebble Beach, California. (Photo by Warren Little/Getty Images)
CBS has a Tony Romo problem. Now that the Superbowl has wrapped up and the NFL season is over CBS has a big issue going forward. That issue is Tony Romo and his 10-year $100 million dollar contract. When CBS handed Romo this contract it changed the landscape of sports broadcasting. In his first season, many people believed this to be a wise investment by CBS including myself. However, as time goes on and we get more and more of Romo in the booth it’s becoming clear that CBS may have miscalculated. Pulling the trigger a little early, giving Romo a massive contract.
Any announcer in sports is going to face criticism and get slaughtered online that’s just part of the gig. For Romo, the noise is becoming almost too loud to ignore for CBS. Usually, it’s just fans who think announcers are being biased that are most critical, but Romo is getting hammered by other media personalities for his nonstop verbal diarrhea and nonsensical quips. Romo’s bizarre antics during broadcasts have become a talking point for sports panel shows throughout the NFL season and CBS can’t be loving the bad press.
CBS, Nantz, and Romo aren’t even halfway through the decade-long contract putting them and Romo in a tough spot. The problem isn’t so much with Romo’s contract it’s with his actual work in the booth. Romo was a revolutionary broadcaster in his first season. diagnosing plays, breaking down players he was familiar with in the league adding to the broadcast. Now it’s become a caricature of a broadcast with Romo constantly stepping on Nantz’s calls. At times it also seems like he’s on his own personal tape delay. As mentioned on our very own Zolak and Bertrand show on Tuesday afternoon Tom Brady will be joining the NFL broadcast booth next season. Brady will be in the booth for Fox next season and the magnifying glass will be on him from the jump.
Can Tony Romo Turn it Around for CBS?
It’s still possible for Romo to turn it around and recapture that first-season magic but he’s going to have to seriously decrease the nonsense and give fans the in-depth analysis they’re looking for. Brady on the other hand is going in with a fresh start looking to impress fans as Romo did in his first season, finding the line is where Brady will need to differentiate from Romo.
Brady doesn’t come across as over the top as Romo in the small media snippets we’ve seen. This will need to continue while Brady looks to find his own way to appeal to viewers. Outside of the fact he’s a 7x Super Bowl champion. I’m still skeptical of Brady in the booth but Romo has given him a blueprint early on of what to do and what to avoid.
Barth's Patriots Mock Draft 1.0: New names, new faces, new era
With the Super Bowl in the books, the NFL offseason is officially underway! With that, it’s time for our annual “Monday after the Super Bowl” Patriots mock draft (all seven rounds).
While this is the start of the offseason for the NFL, the Patriots have already been very busy in the month since their season ended. The coaching staff – now led by Jerod Mayo – is in the process of being overhauled. Bill Belichick’s departure left a void in the front office too, with Eliot Wolf and Matt Groh seemingly emerging as the new leaders of the department.
READ MORE:
—New report shares most likely outcome for Mac Jones this offseason
—Patriots add second linebackers coach to staff
—The big Patriots offseason question nobody is talking about
That all makes this year’s mock drafts more challenging then most. Remember, these mocks aren’t what I would do or want to see happen. It’s using the information available to try to best guess what will happen.
In the past, we had 20-plus years of data on Belichick’s draft trends and tendencies. That’s all out the window. While some of those preferences are likely to carry over with Wolf and Groh, there is some real uncharted territory here too. Reading the tea leaves in terms of quotes from the two and other reports will be more important this year.
![Jul 26, 2023; Foxborough, MA, USA; New England Patriots director of player personnel Matt Groh speaks at training camp at Gillette Stadium. Credit: Eric Canha-USA TODAY Sports](https://985thesportshub.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/88/2023/07/USATSI_21088730_168399897_lowres-1.jpg)
Jul 26, 2023; Foxborough, MA, USA; New England Patriots director of player personnel Matt Groh speaks at training camp at Gillette Stadium. Credit: Eric Canha-USA TODAY Sports
Meanwhile, because it’s so early in the process we’ll have to make a couple of assumptions/predictions for this mock draft. First and most simply, the NFL has not released the full draft order yet. The final four rounds won’t be finalized until comp picks are announced later this month. While the Patriots won’t have any comp picks, the overall distribution of picks by round can change the slots of the picks that follow. Given that, the exact selections in Rounds 4-7 are approximated based on the comp pick projects from OverTheCap.com.
Finally, we’re going to have to make some projections about what the Patriots do in free agency, both internally and externally. The list of the Patriots’ 24 pending free agents this offseason can be found here. We’ll touch on individual players as we go through the draft but here are some assumptions we’re going to make for the time being…
— Anfernee Jennings returns, Josh Uche signs elsewhere
— Mike Onwenu doesn’t return (it’s been reported things are trending this way)
— The Patriots sign one of the top free agent wide receivers (see Robert Kraft’s recent comments on cash spending)
— Baker Mayfield re-signs with the Buccaneers
Alright, a 400-word setup for a Patriots mock draft might be a record. Let’s get to the picks already!
James Scaramozzino is the producer of the Joe Murray show weeknights on the Sports Hub. James is a graduate of Bridgewater State University and the Connecticut School of Broadcasting. An avid sports fan who was always obsessed with sports radio, he started on the Sports Hub’s street team. Then started working overnights at the station and filling in on any show that needed him. James has produced Celtics, Bruins, and Patriots games to go along with filling in producing every show on the station when needed. James writes about all New England sports from Patriots football to Boston Celtics and Boston Bruins.