Tony Romo wore a star on his helmet in the NFL for a lot of years. After signing the record-smashing contract he agreed to this week, he’ll be the star at CBS for as long as they have the NFL.

According to Andrew Marchand, CBS is set to make Romo the highest paid game analyst in television history, with a $17 million per year contract.

Breaking: Tony Romo and CBS have agreed to a deal that will make him the highest NFL analyst in TV history in a deal that will pay him around $17 million per season, according to sources. Story up shortly. — Andrew Marchand (@AndrewMarchand) February 29, 2020

The deal, according to Marchand, is for “significantly more than five years.” Romo had been toiling for the pauper’s wage of $10 million per year, prior to this new deal. The contract is also nearly double the $9.1 million per year average salary that the former Cowboy earned during his playing career.

While it would seem that CBS could have signed Romo for less than $17 million, given that he was making $10 million under his previous deal, it’s important to remember that ESPN was also eyeing Romo and likely would have driven the price up dramatically. By preemptively signing Romo to a monster deal before ESPN had a chance to make a full overture to Romo, as incredible as it sounds, CBS likely saved themselves money by paying Romo $17 million per year.

As Yahoo! Sports reports:

Romo joined the broadcast booth alongside play-by-play man Jim Nantz after he retired from the Cowboys in 2016. He replaced Phil Simms, who shifted to the network’s studio show. Between his enthusiasm, relatability and penchant for calling plays before they happened, Romo became an immediate favorite among fans and critics. Concerns that he jumped the line to join the network’s No. 1 team with no experience were quickly quelled as his game analysis drew rave reviews.

Troy Aikman had previously been the highest-paid NFL analyst, making $7.5 million. Romo’s ascent to broadcast greatness continues an impressive field to broadcast booth trend for former Cowboy signal callers that includes Don Meredith, Aikman, and now Romo.

Follow Dylan Gwinn on Twitter @themightygwinn