Current:Home > reviewsWhat's next for Greg Olsen with Tom Brady in line to take No. 1 spot on FOX? -Elite Financial Minds
What's next for Greg Olsen with Tom Brady in line to take No. 1 spot on FOX?
View
Date:2025-04-14 03:28:29
Greg Olsen accomplished what he set out to do.
His stated goal when he took his first job broadcasting games for NFL on FOX was the same one he harbored as a star tight end for 14 seasons in the league.
"Make it hard as hell for them to replace you," Olsen told NorthJersey.com in a 2022 interview, and he has done just that.
Now the football is in the hands of FOX Sports executives, and there is a strong indication that, even with Olsen’s emergence as the best game analyst in the sport this season, Olsen is about to lose his gig to a broadcasting rookie.
The newbie also happens to be the greatest quarterback of all time.
NFL STATS CENTRAL: The latest NFL scores, schedules, odds, stats and more.
Olsen knew the deal when he was paired with Kevin Burkhardt as FOX’s No. 1 team: the network had already committed to pay Tom Brady $375 million to eventually be in that spot, and it was only a matter of time.
That time is upon us, at least according to what Brady confirmed during an appearance on the Pat McAfee Show on Tuesday afternoon. Olsen and Burkhardt received rave reviews from fans and media alike for their call of Sunday's NFC Championship Game that featured an epic 17-point comeback by the San Francisco 49ers to beat the Detroit Lions, earning a place in Super Bowl LVIII in Las Vegas on Feb. 11.
Given the financial investment the network has made in Brady, it's understandable this is the road on which they have decided to travel. Of course, that doesn't make this any easier with Burkhardt, Olsen, Erin Andrews and Tom Rinaldi seemingly peaking as a team.
If Olsen is bumped to Fox’s No. 2 team, his $10 million salary will be cut to $3 million, an individual with knowledge of the situation confirmed to NorthJersey.com.
"I think Greg’s done an incredible job, I have so much respect for him, how he approaches his job," Brady said. "He’s super prepared in what he does. I think he does an incredible job every time he’s on, I love listening to him."
The initial plan was for Brady to take over with Burkhardt prior to this past season, but a collective decision was made that he would wait until 2024. That gave Olsen two full seasons, including a Super Bowl last year, to team with Burkhardt.
Burkhardt and Olsen replaced Joe Buck and Troy Aikman, who left FOX for ESPN's "Monday Night Football," and the pairing with Andrews on the sideline found their groove quickly and impressed with each passing week.
Behind the scenes, Brady has been prepping for the big move to the booth. He and Burkhardt have met up at the FOX studios in Los Angeles for practice together, calling mock games in order to work through any growing pains there will undoubtedly be for the seven-time Super Bowl champion.
"Naturally, there's skepticism," Brady said. "I'm gonna be a rookie."
For Olsen, his own growth and development has put him in an interesting quandary. There's no question his presence at the top of the business is earned. If he stays at FOX, not only will he take a pay cut, but he'd likely have to start from scratch in terms of building chemistry with No. 2 play-by-play man Joe Davis.
Tony Romo (CBS), Cris Collinsworth (NBC), Aikman (ESPN) and Kirk Herbstreit (Amazon) are all reportedly under contract through the 2024 season. But it would not come as a surprise if any of those networks makes a push to pluck Olsen from FOX, and especially CBS with Romo drawing criticism for his performance the past two seasons after he took the business by storm when he started.
"It’s hard to predict how all that plays out," Olsen told The Athletic on Tuesday. "But my end goal is to call premiere games at the top of the ladder and that pursuit won’t change regardless of what happens this next year with my current role."
veryGood! (6817)
Related
- McKinsey to pay $650 million after advising opioid maker on how to 'turbocharge' sales
- Brazilian Indigenous women use fashion to showcase their claim to rights and the demarcation of land
- How to help the flood victims in Libya
- DeSantis says he does not support criminalizing women who get abortions
- New Zealand official reverses visa refusal for US conservative influencer Candace Owens
- Climate change exacerbates deadly floods worldwide
- Survivors of a deadly migrant shipwreck off Greece file lawsuit over botched rescue claim
- Appeals court denies Trump's attempt to stay E. Jean Carroll's 2019 lawsuit
- Travis Hunter, the 2
- Louis C.K. got canceled, then uncanceled. Too soon? New 'Sorry/Not Sorry' doc investigates
Ranking
- Selena Gomez engaged to Benny Blanco after 1 year together: 'Forever begins now'
- New US sanctions target workarounds that let Russia get Western tech for war
- 3 people injured in India when a small jet veers off the runway while landing in heavy rain
- As climate risks increase, New York could require flood disclosures in home sales
- Can Bill Belichick turn North Carolina into a winner? At 72, he's chasing one last high
- Jill Duggar Dillard says family's strict rules, alleged deception led to estrangement
- Peso Pluma threatened by Mexican cartel ahead of Tijuana concert: 'It will be your last show'
- When the dead don't stay buried: The grave situation at cemeteries amid climate change
Recommendation
Residents worried after ceiling cracks appear following reroofing works at Jalan Tenaga HDB blocks
California family receives $27 million settlement over death of teen assaulted by fellow students
Arkansas lawmakers advance plan to shield Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders’ travel, security records
California lawmakers vote to let legislative employees join a labor union
Taylor Swift makes surprise visit to Kansas City children’s hospital
Wisconsin Senate to vote on override of Evers’ 400-year veto and his gutting of tax increase
Suriname prepares for its first offshore oil project that is expected to ease deep poverty
China's weakening economy in two Indicators