As we get set for another NFL season, it’s not just about looking at team rosters, but broadcast rosters as well. CBS brings one of the most experienced and talented crews to this year’s NFL schedule. Their 2025 NFL announcer teams, top to bottom, comprise some of the very best in the business. Let’s take a look at this gifted crew.
CBS’s lead broadcast unit is Jim Nantz, Tony Romo, and Tracy Wolfson.
Nantz is a true TV legend. He has complete control of the broadcast booth and is a master craftsman in calling a game, providing perspective, and making his broadcast partners excel.
A lot of people have been criticizing Tony Romo over the last couple of seasons, but he remains one of the top five football analysts in the business, in my opinion.
In his 2017 debut season, Romo was excellent from the jump. His penchant for calling plays before they even happen is unmatched. In addition, Romo has jelled incredibly well with Nantz, making them arguably the best pair of football announcers in the business.
I think the key to Tracy Wolfson’s success is her versatility. Not only can she move from sport to sport as a reporter with accuracy, diligence, and fact-finding, but even within the scope of her work as a football sideline reporter, she offers breaking news, updates, and commentary — a perfect fit with Nantz and Romo.
A Deep Bench on CBS Sports
Another of CBS’s regional game broadcast teams is Ian Eagle, J.J. Watt, and Evan Washburn.
Eagle is as good a football play-by-play announcer as there is when it comes to the nuts and bolts of broadcasting. What he lacks in flash and charisma, he makes up for with pure talent and the ability to narrate the story of an NFL football game. I love listening to him, and his pairing with J.J. Watt is going to be very exciting to watch.
If ever there was a relatively new broadcaster who has the chance to match Tony Romo’s success, it is Watt. His social media posts are biting and timely, but never step over the line into insulting or vulgar. I think he has amazing potential, especially matched up with Eagle in the broadcast booth. As a fan and viewer, I am really looking forward to seeing what he has in store for us.
CBS is very fortunate to have perhaps the best group of sideline reporters in football. A key member of this group is Evan Washburn, who will be teamed with Eagle and Watt this year. Washburn does not just show up and wait for stories to come to him. You can see him on the sidelines working the benches to not only react but be proactive in his role.
Kevin Harlan, Trent Green, and Melanie Collins are another of CBS’s top NFL teams.
Harlan remains one of the most popular announcers across multiple sports on television. I’ve often said that I’d like to see him tone down his dramatic slant early in games, but that is his shtick and it works for him. All in all, he is a joy to watch, especially at the end of close games. He knows how to put his finger on the pulse of a moment.
Trent Green is a solid analyst. He is not going to give you the personality of a Romo, but he knows the game inside and out. I like Green’s staid, businesslike approach to football. He is excellent with the X’s and O’s of the game and knows the quarterbacking angle as well as any analyst. Green is one of the few analysts who doesn’t need to be set up constantly by his play-by-play partner. His preparation is undoubted, and he is really good at initiating a conversation both on the offensive and defensive side.
Melanie Collins is a truly underrated sideline reporter — excellent at ferreting out stories to present to viewers. We all know that there are varied views on the overall value of a sideline reporter, but Collins consistently shows that the position is quite viable and even essential. When Harlan throws to Collins, you know you are going to get information that is pertinent and relevant to the game, not just fluff. She is one of the best in the business.
The Rising Stars of the NFL on CBS
CBS’s only four-person NFL broadcast team is led by play-by-play announcer Andrew Catalon, joined by analysts Charles Davis and Jason McCourty, and reporter AJ Ross.
Catalon is an underrated broadcaster across the landscape of sports. He brings really good pacing and rhythm to his football calls. Catalon, to me, is already in that conversation as a top-flight play-by-play announcer. He should be for everyone else as well.
I’m looking forward to seeing the pairing of Charles Davis with McCourty. Davis is an entertaining listen and watch. He has a firm grasp of the game and is quite versatile, commenting on all three phases of football. You can tell how much he loves the game and can actually sense and hear his smile in his commentary. McCourty has blossomed since his tremendous debut on NFL Network’s Good Morning Football. He is very much at home in the booth, currently working Boston broadcasts for Patriots’ preseason games. McCourty continues to feather his nest as one of the best analysts in football, especially on the defensive side of the ball.
Like Melanie Collins, AJ Ross is an underrated football sideline reporter. She is a hard worker, well prepared, and constantly looking for a unique angle to present viewers between game calls. It is my hope that whoever is directing and producing her games this year gets her more airtime on the broadcast. Ross clearly prepares a bunch of nice tidbits to share with viewers and is also good on the fly, whether it is an injury or some other immediate story occurring on either sideline.
You know you have a deep talent reservoir when Spero Dedes, Adam Archuleta, and Aditi Kinkhabwala are part of your broadcast crew roster.
Dedes is a television veteran with an understated style. This dude sees the game and tells us what is happening on the field — no BS fanfare or unnecessary drama. He is the anti-Harlan. I like Dedes’ style. He is an original, not a copycat, cookie-cutter play-by-play announcer.
Archuleta has carved a nice niche for himself in the broadcast sphere. He’s got great experience as a player and is really eloquent in translating that on-field experience to his on-camera gig. I kind of look at him a little like Catalon in that he should be more highly rated and recognized for his talent. Kinkhabwala is an experienced reporter and veteran of NFL media with excellent contacts throughout the league. She is also very well respected by players and coaches. That’s something you can’t create; you have to earn it.
More evidence of the depth of talent at CBS is their rotating reporters, Tom McCarthy and Ross Tucker, both very good at what they do. Gene Steratore continues to be a bright light for CBS as a rules analyst, while play-by-play announcer Beth Mowins will call select games along with color analyst Chris Lewis. Both Lewis and CBS’s Logan Ryan are rising fast. Reporters for select games include frontline sports media talents like Amanda Balionis and Tiffany Blackmon. Like any great NFL team, the 2025 CBS game announcer roster is stacked. As you watch the talent on the field this season, don’t forget to pay attention to the equally strong talents describing the action.
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John Molori is a weekly columnist for Barrett Sports Media. He has previously contributed to ESPNW, Patriots Football Weekly, Golf Content Network, Methuen Life Magazine, and wrote a syndicated Media Blitz column in the New England region, which was published by numerous outlets including The Boston Metro, Providence Journal, Lowell Sun, and the Eagle-Tribune. His career also includes fourteen years in television as a News and Sports Reporter, Host, Producer working for Continental Cablevision, MediaOne, and AT&T. He can be reached on Twitter @MoloriMedia.
