"Tony Romo has agreed to the largest sports analyst contract in TV history, a deal to remain at CBS which will prevent him from reaching the free-agent market, where ESPN was poised to aggressively bid for him, The Post has learned.
The contract will pay Romo around $17 million per season, which is more than the previous NFL high of $8 million per year John Madden received more than two decades ago. Even when adjusted for inflation — which would make Madden’s number $14 million — Romo still is the highest paid ever.
The deal is a long-term contract, with sources saying it is for significantly more than five years. This means the total value for Romo’s contract will surpass $100 million.
CBS was motivated this week by Disney’s ability to start bidding on Romo in March, when he could have been eligible for free agency. CBS thought that Disney — which hoped to use Romo as a carrot as it goes after a Super Bowl in the next round of negotiations — would bid $20 million per year. ESPN officials disputed that, saying they would not have even gotten close to that number."
"In Romo’s rookie deal, CBS did have a card to play that could prevent have prevented him from becoming an unrestricted free agent.
Per the terms of Romo’s original contract, he had to tell CBS what it would take for him to agree to a contract prior to him being allowed to go on the open market, sources said. CBS was willing to meet the around $17 million per year and $100-plus milion figure that blocked out ESPN from even getting a chance."
https://nypost.com/2020/02/28/nfl-analyst-tony-romo-agrees-to-17m-per-year-to-stay-at-cbs/