NFL

Cowboys' Tony Romo retiring from NFL for broadcast gig with CBS

A.J. Perez

USA TODAY Sports

Tony Romo is retiring from his playing career and heading into the broadcast booth for a new job as CBS' top NFL analyst.

The Dallas Cowboys, with whom Romo spent his entire 14-year career, released the 37-year-old quarterback Tuesday and relinquished his future rights to allow him to pursue broadcasting.

“We wish Tony and his family nothing but the best," Cowboys owner Jerry Jones said in a release. "As an organization, we did what he asked us to do in terms of his release, and we wanted to do what was ultimately in his best interest and in the best interest of his family."

Romo seemed to confirm the news of his new job later Tuesday with a tweet of himself wearing a jacket displaying the CBS logo.

Romo reached a verbal agreement with CBS to join the network as an in-game analyst, replacing another former NFL quarterback, Phil Simms, as Jim Nantz's broadcast partner. Fox had also expressed interest in Romo as a possible replacement for John Lynch, who abandoned the broadcast booth to become the San Francisco 49ers' general manager in January.

"Tony has been one of the NFL's biggest stars for the past decade; and we are thrilled to welcome him to CBS Sports," said CBS sports chairman Sean McManus in a release. "He will bring the same passion, enthusiasm and knowledge that he displayed on the field to the broadcast booth. He brings a fresh and insightful perspective to our viewers having just stepped off the field. We know Tony will develop into a terrific analyst, and alongside Jim Nantz, will become a must listen for fans each week."

McManus said Romo would call games both on Sundays and Thursdays.

Tony Romo will go down as one of the most under-appreciated QBs of all time

Romo had three seasons left on his contract with the Cowboys, but he had been supplanted by Dak Prescott as the starter. Romo suffered a back injury in the preseason last year and didn’t start a game for the Cowboys as Prescott led the franchise to a 13-3 record in the regular season.

Romo, who has made more than $127 million in his career, was slated to count more than $24 million against the Cowboys' cap number in 2017.

Romo played in only one series for the Cowboys after he returned from injury in November. He played in five games overall over the past two seasons.

Along with the fractured vertebra he suffered last August, Romo also had two other serious back injuries: A compression fracture in his spine (2014) and a herniated disc (2013). He was limited to four games in 2015 after he sustained a fractured collarbone and missed 10 games in 2010 with a shoulder injury.

Romo went undrafted out of Eastern Illinois and signed with the Cowboys before the 2003 season. His first action at quarterback didn't come until 2006, when he took over for Drew Bledsoe midseason. Romo started his first game in Week 8 and led the Cowboys to a 34-6 victory over the Carolina Panthers.

Romo started 127 games for the Cowboys overall and compiled a 78-49 record with four Pro Bowl selections. Romo, however, never got Dallas past the divisional round in four playoff appearances.

“Tony has been a wonderful representative of the Cowboys organization for 14 years, and he left everything he had on the field," Jones said. "He will leave us with many great memories and a legacy of being, truly, one of the greatest players in Cowboys history. We are thrilled for him and his family that he will be able to continue working as a professional in the game he so dearly loves."

PHOTOS: Tony Romo's career throughout the years