ESPN desperately needed to land Tony Romo, but CBS made sure they never got a chance when they inked him to the largest sports analyst contract in history.
Andrew Marchand of the New York Post is now reporting that the Worldwide Leader in Sports has “alternative plans” for the Monday night booth, and the first call “likely” will be made to Peyton Manning.
“The first call is likely to be to Peyton Manning, asking if this is finally the year he wants to try to be an analyst.
“With the money Disney was planning to offer Romo and with what Romo is being paid by CBS, Manning would have to listen. If Manning says no, ESPN would have to move to Plan C. ESPN was thinking big with Romo and the Super Bowl, but CBS had the initial foresight to sign Romo—and they refused to let him go.”
Manning previously stated he didn’t want to call games due to his brother, Eli, still playing in the league. He has since retired, so maybe he has had a change of heart.
Yahoo Sports’ Charles Robinson reported in June 2019 that Peyton told reporters “when Eli stops playing, it will be different.”
Manning, who retired after the 2015 season, has worked for ESPN since 2018 breaking down current NFL players on the ESPN+ series Detail.
