So, Tony Romo is taking Phil Simms' job as CBS analyst



… But, Tony Romo? 

Jerry Jones tried his best, but he still could not find a team willing to trade for his backup quarterback.

So, the 36-year-old QB, Tony Romo, is apparently going to retire after being released by the Cowboys tomorrow.

The interesting part of this is that Romo is reputed to be the next hire by CBS Sports  to replace former Giants QB Phil Simms on the number one team with Jim Nantz.

Reports

ESPN first reported the move, and Sports Business Daily confirmed it. "Tony Romo will be a TV analyst with CBS next season, according to sources. A deal has yet to be signed, but CBS and Romo have reached a verbal agreement. The Cowboys QB is expected to replace Phil Simms as the net’s top game analyst, where he will be paired with Jim Nantz. CBS outbid Fox Sports for Romo’s services, sources said. Fox Sports wanted Romo to replace John Lynch as the game analyst on the net’s No. 2 broadcast team. Just a couple of weeks ago, Fox was considered the front-runner to land Romo, since it carries the NFC package that Romo knows so well. But a concern for Romo was that another former Cowboys QB, Troy Aikman, is the net’s top NFL game analyst, and he is not likely to leave the booth any time soon," the website explained.

Why dump Simms?

The first reason that Simms may be expendable is because he is so unpopular. That is not just with fans, but with experts.

When Sporting News asked experts at the end of the 2015 season who the best NFL announcers were, the name Simms was not even mentioned. In fact, CBS was hammered in it. "CBS' NFL coverage didn't get much love. The only on-air talent cited was James Brown of The NFL Today. Best praised was CBS' No. 2 announce team of Ian Eagle and Dan Fouts rather than the lead team of Jim Nantz and Phil Simms," the magazine wrote.

The NBC team of Al Michaels, Cris Collingsworth, and Michele Tafoya was rated as number one by 3/4 of the experts, and Fox's Troy Aikman was named the best analyst.

CBS has no choice?

CBS may be seeing the demarcation. The CBS team is actually being ranked below that of NBC, Fox, ESPN, and the NFL Network.

So, perhaps Simms is expendable.

But, Tony Romo?

That being the case, why replace him with a completely unknown commodity? Would we even be talking about this if he had not played for the Cowboys?

This could be a true Hail Mary pass for CBS, desperate to get back on top.

My advice for CBS: Move Dan Fouts to the number 1 spot. He is a very good analyst, and with Nantz, they could be very good.

But, Tony Romo?

As a Fox columnist noted to fans from Houston and Denver, this was not a guy who had a great track record for winning in Dallas. "Slow your rolls. Pump the brakes. Chill out. Tony Romo isn't bringing you a Super Bowl … To win a Super Bowl you have to get at least three playoff victories (and four in some cases). Tony Romo, in his entire 13-year NFL career has two playoff wins. Two … Romo has led the Cowboys to three great seasons: 2007 (13-3), 2009 (11-5) and 2014 (12-3). In his other eight seasons he's barely over .500 with a 42-38 mark. The Cowboys made the postseason in four of his 10 seasons as starter."

And no Super Bowl victories.

But, Tony Romo?

So, maybe we should tone down expectations of Tony as a number one broadcaster. Perhaps he would be better if he was listed as a commentator with one of the other teams, perhaps the number 2 team with Fouts the number 1.

But, perhaps CBS is desperate enough to replace Simms -- as bad or good as he may be -- with a novice.

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