Salary: $4 million per year
Like many other retired NFL quarterbacks, Tony Romo led an incredible NFL career with the Dallas Cowboys that lasted 13 years from 2003 until 2016 and ended up in a career-ending injury. He broke many records including passing touchdowns, passing yards, most games with at least 300 passing yards, and games with three or more touchdown passes. Romo also holds the fourth-highest passer rating in the NFL at 97.1. He was quickly picked up by CBS Sports and worked as the lead color analyst for the network’s NFL Casts.
The retired Dallas Cowboys quarterbacks agents claim he wants to become the highest-paid NFL analyst on TV, and allegedly asked for a $10 million contract. Romo is currently making 4 million dollars annually and is yet to be the first one to break the 8-figure barrier as an analyst. He also claims to be a devout Christian and talks often about his faith and love for Jesus.
Michael Cole - WWE
Salary: $500,000 per year
Sean Michael Coulthard, whom you'd probably recognize better by his stage name, Michael Cole, is a WWE play-by-play commentator on Smackdown. The broadcaster's original career began as a media journalist for CBS radio where he extensively covered political matters such as the 1988 United States elections and the Oklahoma City bombings.
Cole transitioned from journalism to broadcasting in 1997 when he began working for the WWF under the stage name "Michael Cole", and provided voice-overs for advertisement videos. He was chosen in 1999 to become one of the show's main play-by-play announcers and even had a few minor roles in storylines. Cole also appeared in many WWE video-games as a commentator by providing his voice. He was the prominent commentator and announcer during Jerry Lawler's heart attack and was considered extremely professional in the way he handled the event.
Verne Lundquist - CBS
Salary: $1.5 million per year
American sportscaster Verne Lundquist is known for his long career of over 50 years as a play-by-play commentator. The legendary sportscaster played himself during a scene in the 1996 Adam Sandler film "Happy Gilmore". Lundquist was inducted in 2005 into the Sun Bowl Hall of Fame for being a staple in the broadcast booth. Few, if any, sports broadcasters have been involved in as many important events and moments in sports as Lundquist, and he has made sure to leave his mark through his "golden voice" commentary.
Born in Duluth, Minnesota, he began his broadcasting career in 1967 and was praised from the beginning for his "golden voice". He has since worked with ABC, CBS, TNT, and other networks. Lundquist retired from broadcasting in recent years but continues to remain active as an announcer.
Bob Ley - ESPN
Salary: $2 million per year
Long-running and beloved ESPN host Bob Ley has recently announced that he is officially retiring from sports commentary and hosting after nearly 40 years of work with the network. The 64-year-old broadcaster announced his retirement and wrote "Thank you for a great run," on Twitter. As a multiple-time Emmy Award winner and one of the network's most recognizable voices, Ley was the longest working on-air employee in ESPN history as he joined merely three days after the network launched in 1979.
His various awards include the Sports Emmy for Outstanding Studio Host, the Golden Blazer of Fame and more. The veteran sportscaster provided the first live national reports during the 1989 World Series earthquake in San Francisco and was the host and commentator in many of the largest events in sports over the past 3 decades. In his personal life, Ley is married and has 2 kids. He also serves on Seton Hall University’s board of regents.
Lisa Salters - ESPN
Salary: $2 million per year
The feisty journalist and former women's basketball player from Pennsylvania, Lisa Salters, is a highly accomplished woman who was recently conducted into the Montgomery County Chapter of the Pennsylvania Sports Hall of Fame. Salters began her career in sports and journalism when she received her bachelor’s degree in broadcast journalism. While studying, she also tried her hand at basketball, even though she wasn't exactly the tallest basketball player in the world. Standing at just 5' 2, Salters became the school's shortest player in history when she became a guard for the Lady Lions basketball team from 1986 to 1987.
The accomplished journalist went on to join ESPN as a general assignment reporter in the year 2000 and has had a very interesting career that included both sports and worldwide news. She has covered various high-profile topics outside of sports, such as the Oklahoma City bombing trials, the Matthew Shepard murder, the crash of TWA Flight 800, and both the civil and criminal O.J. Simpson trials. Salters was nominated for a Sports Emmy Award in 2008 for her story "Ray of Hope" about organ donations.