There's huge news in NFL broadcasting on Thursday morning: CBS is locking up former NFL star J.J. Watt as its lead analyst with a new contract, meaning he'll be with Jim Nantz and Tracy Wolfson permanently for a few more years.
Why is that huge? Well, it locks up one of the potential open jobs in the offseason when it comes to NFL on television. And that, in turn, could have implications for Troy Aikman and Greg Olsen.
Let's talk Aikman first. His ESPN partner Joe Buck got a new contract, but he didn't, and that's created some serious behind-the-scenes drama. But if Aikman is a free agent, this was one job that could have been his for the taking. No more. So where could he go? How about Amazon Prime Video? Kirk Herbstreit just re-signed for Thursday
Night Football, but there are reported out clauses in case someone like Sean McVay became available. What about Aikman?
Then, there's Olsen. He could be Aikman's replacement on ESPN if everything lines up, but the CBS job is gone now.
JJ Watt Agrees to Multi-Year Deal to Serve as NFL ON CBS Lead Game Analyst
— CBS Sports PR (@CBSSportsGang) October 22, 2026
Watt will continue to call the Network’s top games alongside Jim Nantz and Tracy Wolfson as CBS Sports’ lead NFL announce team.https://t.co/Wgb2jew4oP pic.twitter.com/StqMDtHnyK
The intrigue here won't stop. But one big seat in the NFL broadcasting world is now no longer vacated.
This article originally appeared on For The Win: What J.J. Watt's huge new NFL on CBS deal means for Troy Aikman, Greg Olsen
