Logan Ryan packed a suit for Patriots-Buccaneers just in case. Good thing he did.
Ryan spent the week embedded with Jim Nantz and Tony Romo, sitting in production meetings and watching CBS’s top broadcast team prepare for Sunday’s game in Tampa. He’s a game analyst for CBS this season, working both college football and NFL games, and shadowing Nantz and Romo gave him a chance to learn from two of the best in the business while they prepared for a matchup featuring two of his former teams.
With New England leading Tampa Bay 21-16 and about 12 minutes left in the fourth quarter, Nantz brought Ryan into the broadcast.
“If there’s one person in this stadium that knows these teams and these coaches the best, it’s CBS’s very own, Logan Ryan, who’s been observing with us today,” Nantz said, “and all week with our meetings. It’s been great having you here.”
pic.twitter.com/MePPvn9Yuv
— The Comeback NFL (@TheComebackNFL) November 10, 2025
Ryan won two Super Bowls with the Patriots from 2013-16, played three seasons under Mike Vrabel in Tennessee from 2017-19, then finished his career with one season in Tampa Bay in 2022, playing for Todd Bowles. Now Vrabel is coaching the Patriots, and Bowles is running the Buccaneers. Ryan played for both head coaches, won championships with one franchise, and has firsthand knowledge of how both organizations operate. There might not be anyone in football better positioned to break down what was happening in that fourth quarter.
“Listen, both these coaches, they pride themselves on fourth quarter execution,” Ryan said. “I played for both of them, so they both expect to win this game. It’s going to be a good one down the stretch.”
When Romo asked if Bowles would bring pressure, Ryan didn’t hesitate.
“Oh, he’s got about 10 more of those third-down defenses in the clip, Tony, don’t worry.”
The whole thing caught Ryan off guard. He showed up to shadow, not to be on camera.
I showed up to shadow Jim Nantz and Tony Romo… and somehow ended up on camera 😅 Always stay ready & glad I packed a suit to look the part 🙏🏾🎙️ pic.twitter.com/fdqMpq6AkY
— Logan Ryan (@RealLoganRyan) November 9, 2025
It’s rare for networks to put someone in the booth during a game when they’re supposed to be shadowing, but Ryan’s presence made sense given his connections to everyone involved. And it wasn’t as if some former player was parachuting in to offer surface-level analysis based on what he saw in film study that week. Ryan played in both of these systems, won championships with one organization, learned defense under Vrabel in Tennessee, and knows exactly how Bowles operates from their time together in Tampa Bay.
Nantz also took a moment to acknowledge the elephant in the room — or more accurately, the pick-six.
“Of course, if anyone knows what it’s like to play for both of these teams, it is Logan,” Nantz said. “And I know there’s people out there going, right, Logan was the one who ended Tom Brady’s career at New England with a pick-six when he was playing for Tennessee in that Wild Card playoff game.”
That would be the 2020 AFC Wild Card game, when Ryan intercepted Brady’s final pass as a Patriot and returned it for a touchdown to seal Tennessee’s 20-13 upset at Gillette Stadium. Ryan and Brady stayed close despite that moment. Brady even recruited Ryan to Tampa Bay in 2022, and the two became teammates one final time before Ryan retired and moved into broadcasting.
This almost certainly won’t become a regular thing — Nantz and Romo aren’t adding a third voice to their booth. But it shows how Ryan is working his way up at CBS, and could very well become a fixture on the network’s NFL coverage if he keeps this up.