While on injured reserve with a broken foot, Greg Olsen got some “inside information” on the Minnesota Vikings by calling a game for Fox as a color analyst. He must have enjoyed himself, because now he’s talking to the big boys.
Andrew Marchand, sports media columnist for the New York Post, reported today that Olsen, who turned 33 earlier this week, is auditioning for the analyst slot on ESPN’s Monday Night Football previously held by Jon Gruden, who left his post to coach the Los Angeles Raiders; Marchand also reports that Olsen could be in consideration for a spot in the Thursday Night Football booth. If Olsen were to accept a position as a full-time broadcaster, it’s expected that he would retire from the NFL after 11 years in the league.
While this is a spectacular opportunity for Olsen to explore opportunities outside of football, an audition doesn’t necessarily mean that the tight end who until last season had produced three 1,000-yard seasons in a row and had seven catches for 104 yards in his most recent game, a 31-26 playoff loss in New Orleans that left a bad taste in his mouth, is hanging up his cleats. He said after the game that he was disappointed with the results of the game and was anxious for the team to lick it’s wounds and return to the field in 2018.
“I still think this is a team that is it’s window to compete at the highest level and win this thing and we need to learn our lessons from this year and where things kind of went wrong and moves that need to be made and find ways to improve,” said Olsen the day after the season ended. “I still feel like I can play at a high level for a good while longer. I have no plans to stop playing in the immediate future as long as they still want me.”
Olsen may be using this audition for a myriad of options: for instance, an opportunity to gain experience and contacts, trying to gain traction with the folks at ESPN so that they view him as a viable option for a bigger role when he decides to retire; Olsen received high marks for his analysis last season and spent some time with the NFL Network analyzing tight ends at the Combine in Indianapolis. It’s clear his future career is intact when his playing time is over, but that doesn’t necessarily indicate that the end is right now.
The other reason? The almighty dollar. Olsen is due to make $9.75m in the 2018 season, and a television gig, even one as good as Monday Night Football, won’t pay him that much money; don’t forget that Olsen sought an extension during the 2017 offseason before the Panthers restructured his contract with multiple performance incentives during the season, all of which he missed due to the foot injury that kept him out for over half the season. Olsen still wants that extension, and having an interview with ESPN that will force him to retire if he accepts the job is quite a bargaining chip, especially in the hands of superagent Drew Rosenhaus.
The Panthers tight end situation is certainly in flux at the moment with Ed Dickson agreeing to a three-year deal in Seattle today; the team has brought in veterans Luke Willson and Eric Ebron for visits, but neither have agreed to terms while in Charlotte. With Chris Manhertz currently the only tight end on the roster to back up Olsen, there are a multitude of tight ends in the 2018 draft class that might make sense as both a complimentary tight end and the eventual heir to Olsen’s throne: Oklahoma’s Mark Andrews and South Dakota State’s Dallas Goedert are both expected to get first-round consideration.
More tight end info, including some possible free agent targets:
Photo Credit: Ronald Martinez/Getty Imag
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