JJ Watt gets multiyear deal as lead analyst for 'NFL on CBS'

NFL legend and Wisconsin native JJ Watt has officially been named lead analyst for the "NFL on CBS" in a new multiyear agreement. David Berson, chairman of Global Sports Group and Skydance, made the announcement in an Oct. 22 news release .

Watt joined CBS in 2023 as a studio analyst before moving into the booth to call games with Ian Eagle last season on CBS' No. 2 team.

This summer, Watt landed a promotion to replace another Wisconsin native, Tony Romo, on CBS Sports' lead NFL broadcasting team on an interim basis. That came when Romo, the former Dallas Cowboys quarterback, had been placed on leave soon after he was cited for OWI in Milwaukee in July.

In early October, the network said that "CBS Sports and Tony Romo have mutually agreed to part ways." Romo had been CBS' lead analyst on NFL game broadcasts since 2017.

Watt will continue calling the network's top games alongside play-by-play announcer Jim Nantz and sideline reporter Tracy Wolfson as CBS Sports' lead NFL announce team, the Oct. 22 announcement said. That'll include next season when they call Super Bowl 52 in Atlanta.

Watt shared how he found out about the promotion and what it means to him in an Oct. 22 video on X .

On Monday morning, Oct. 19, he said he got his kids up and, after breakfast, noticed a missed call from Berson.

"I'm thinking to myself, 'Aw, man, missed call from the boss. Am I in trouble, for potentially breaking Jim Nantz's hand on the broadcast on Sunday with our ball drill?" Watt said.

Turns out it was "significantly better news."

"He told me on that call that I would be the lead analyst for CBS moving forward," Watt said in the video. "Super Bowl next year and all that comes with that."

Watt thanked Berson and everybody involved for putting their trust in him.

"It is a true honor and a privilege and I do not take that responsibility lightly at all," he said. "I appreciate their trust in me. And I have an absolute blast doing it every single week, and I cannot wait to continue to do it."

Watt, a former Wisconsin Badgers All-American, retired from the NFL in 2022 after 12 seasons in a career that included winning the NFL Defensive Player of the Year award three times.