Change sometimes leads to other change.
That was the phrase Greg Olsen used on the day the only coach he’d had in Carolina was fired – and that was the phrase that he came back to again Monday in the Panthers locker room when discussing his future.
“No one ever gets to write their ending, write their final script. You don’t know what the future holds here – there’s been a lot of change, a lot of turnover,” said Olsen. “It’s hard to predict when and where that comes. [I’ll] control what I control and right now, that’s two more opportunities to play here for the Panthers – one more home game to end the year and that’s really all you’re guaranteed at this point. From that point forward, it’s anybody’s guess and my intent is to try and make the most of these last two games and go out with as positive of an experience as I can, if that is [my] last opportunity.
“A lot of that is out of my control, so we’ll worry about the two that I do have.”
Olsen, who cleared the concussion protocol after missing the past two games, can still play at a high level – his yardage and reception numbers still rank in the top eight among tight ends playing with a backup quarterback and this season, the 34-year old became only the fifth tight end in NFL history to surpass 8,000 career receiving yards and 700 receptions. He says that before the concussion, he hadn’t missed a practice rep and has been “productive when the opportunities were there.”
Even as he struggled to explain to his children exactly why he wasn’t playing, the Panthers captain never thought about shutting himself down for the season, letting the process of the concussion protocol play out and returning when he felt back to normal – which will allow him two more games in a Panthers uniform; after that, the future is unwritten.
Olsen says he’d like to come back to Carolina next season.
“But sometimes the ball is not always in your court,” said Olsen. “I think there’s a lot of things that need to shake out here that have a lot of clarity on that and then you kind of just go from there.”
“If the Panthers want to bring me back, that’d be great. Again, I try not to play the hypothetical game – I have two more games, that I know, hopefully, that I can be a part of – past that, those things are yet to be determined at a lot of different levels a lot higher up than me.”
Whether Olsen is back next year may come down to finances – he’s due to count for $11.8m towards the cap next season and can be released for $8.1m in cap relief, although that will result in a $3.7m dead cap hit – that $11.8m cap hit would be the second-highest among all tight ends in 2020. The question of who will be playing quarterback will also likely play a large factor – a team led by Cam Newton and challenging for a playoff berth would love to have a #1 tight end like Olsen, who can be a leader both on the field and in the locker room, but a team rebuilding around a young, developmental quarterback may value that cap space more than a 34-year old tight end with the second-highest cap hit and the eighth-highest production. Especially with a young tight end like Ian Thomas, who has looked promising in short spurts the past two seasons, looming as a possible replacement for Olsen.
There’s also value in having a dependable target and loud voice in the locker room as a team transitions to a new era, should the team be moving on to a new quarterback in addition to a new coaching regime. But while Olsen wouldn’t rule out the possibility of playing elsewhere – or stepping into the broadcast booth, as was rumored for months last offseason – he wouldn’t go into predictions of where he’d be next year.
But he cited the multiple extensions he’s signed with Carolina since being traded here in 2011 – arriving the same year as both Ron Rivera and Cam Newton, one of whom has already been fired and the other has questions swirling about his future in Carolina, perhaps revealing his answer to whether fans would have to deal with seeing another key piece of the Panthers in a different uniform, without saying it out loud.
“Obviously, if I wanted to play somewhere else, I’ve had my opportunities,” said Olsen. “I’ve enjoyed my time here, this city, this team has been awesome and if that’s still in the future, great. That’d be great – but I would never shut the door on anything without completely looking at it and weighing it, both for me and my career and also for my family. There’s just so many factors that go into those decisions to just make hypothetical decisions, you end up chasing your tail a little bit.”
“Until any of that is real, just trying to predict the unpredictable, I don’t think does a lot of good – right now, my main focus is finishing these last two weeks to the best of my ability, giving the team what I can to try to end on a positive note and go into the offseason from there.”
So Olsen will defer those questions until the offseason – but you should cheer extra hard for him in their final home game.
Just in case – change sometimes leads to other change.
