JJ Watt locks in CBS lead analyst job, Barstool reacts
TLDR: CBS signed JJ Watt to a multi-year deal as its lead NFL analyst on Thursday, making permanent the Tony Romo seat he had been filling, and Barstool was quick to celebrate.
Big Cat got there before almost anyone, and he went with the most Big Cat congratulations possible.
Here is how Watt got the job. Romo was put on leave after a July arrest in Milwaukee on suspicion of operating while intoxicated, and CBS formally ended his tenure in early October. Watt had been the network's No. 2 analyst alongside Ian Eagle. He moved up next to Jim Nantz and Tracy Wolfson as what looked like a stopgap. Now he isn't a stopgap anymore.
That's the real story. CBS had money to spend and big names on the market, with Awful Announcing pointing to Greg Olsen and Troy Aikman as options. It passed on all of them and kept the guy who had been in the top chair for about 2 months. That is a huge vote of confidence in a broadcaster who only started calling games after he retired from playing following the 2022 season.
Inside the CBS building, people were already sold, and Jake Marsh was not hiding his excitement.
Let’s gooo!! So pumped for @JJWatt. He has been incredible in the booth since Day 1. Great move by CBS to lock him in.
Frank the Tank, meanwhile, cared about one line on Watt's résumé. Before the Nantz booth and before the Super Bowl assignment, Watt was the first guest on Frank Walks, at least according to Frank. Frank is making sure everybody remembers it.
The clip accounts went digging in the archives too. A throwback from one of Watt's old Barstool podcast appearances made the rounds, posted with a deadpan line praising the new CBS lead analyst's "good eye" for what's going on. It's a joke. Nobody is passing this off as broadcast tape.
The lead analyst for CBS moving forward has always had a good eye for what’s going on
From the first meeting in Arizona with David Berson & Ross Molloy, to the brotherhood of the NFL Today desk, an unforgettable year with Ian, Evan, Ken & crew and now alongside legendary Jim Nantz, Tracy Wolfson, Rikhoff and the whole crew. What an honor & privilege. Grateful 🙏🏻 t.co/9tNPRx94bL
Now the stakes go up. Watt keeps calling CBS's biggest games with Nantz and Wolfson, and that includes the Super Bowl, which CBS has next season. A guy who did Frank's first walk will be calling the biggest game on the calendar. Not a bad run.
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