Greg Olsen may some day be demoted because of Tom Brady, but in 2023, the former Pro Bowl tight end might be inclined to send a Christmas card to the seven-time Super Bowl Champion.
Shortly after retiring earlier this month, Brady revealed to Colin Cowherd that he doesn't plan to begin his broadcast career with FOX until the 2024 season. After a 23-year playing career, Brady will take a fall off before becoming the No. 1 color commentator on FOX's NFL game coverage.
That means that for at least another season, Olsen will remain with Kevin Burkhardt in FOX's top booth. And according to Andrew Marchand of The New York Post, Olsen will now make $10 million in 2023, the second year of a five-year contract with the network. Had Brady -- who signed a 10-year/$375 million deal with the network last May -- jumped into the top booth in 2023, Olsen would have instead made $3 million next season.
Albert Breer of The MMQB -- who covered Brady on the New England Patriots for many years -- admitted last week that he is skeptical of whether the most accomplished player in NFL history will ever actually be a broadcaster.
"I'm not convinced," Breer acknowledged when asked by Dan Patrick. "I will say that I think if he does do TV, he'll go all in and try to be really good at it. I'm not convinced that he does it. Just because I think that ... I hate to say it's beneath him, but doesn't it sort of feel like ... can you guys see him like standing in the buffet line with the rest of us at halftime?"
$3 million per year and the No. 2 booth on FOX certainly wouldn't be a bad fallback for Olsen, who would still get to be on the call for 17 regular season games and one playoff game per year. But given the rave reviews Olsen has received since becoming a full-time game analyst in 2021, you wonder if he will be poached by another network if Brady does indeed take over in the top FOX booth in 2024.
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