Greg Olsen Knew Tom Brady Was Looming at Fox All Along

As Greg Olsen continues to share his restlessness over not being on the top Fox NFL announce team, it bears mentioning that the network did not mistreat him amid his demotion in favor of Tom Brady. 

“In my mind, I’m going to call big-time games again,” Olsen told the Charlotte Observer earlier this week. “I’m going to call Super Bowl games again. I just don’t know the timeline or the venue.” Olsen also spoke to The Athletic recently about how his goal is to return to top games.

The timeline has gotten muddied with the passage of time, but Olsen’s role alongside Kevin Burkhardt on the network’s top team was always understood to be temporary. Fox announced the blockbuster deal with Brady, to begin after he retired from the NFL, before Olsen was promoted to the top spot. To be sure, Olsen excelled in the role, but he knew when he took the job that he would be keeping the seat warm for Brady.

While there’s been ample speculation that Brady will leave the broadcast booth as he assumes the role of minority owner and key decision-maker with the Raiders, Brady has been adamant that he is returning to Fox next year. 

The former NFL tight end said in the interview that he has two years left on his deal, and acknowledged his beef in this situation is not with Fox or Brady. 

“It’s pretty clear that the path, the upward trajectory as far as Fox goes, probably is a non-factor. … I don’t know what the future holds. I enjoy working at Fox,” Olsen said. “Fox has been very good to me. They know. I’ve been very honest with them that I’m not content just calling one o’clock regional games for the rest of my career.”

He compared the situation to luxury travel, where you think you can stay in any hotel until you get a taste of really nice ones.

“To go from calling two years of the top games—a Super Bowl and then last year through the NFC championship,” Olsen said, referring to the 2022 and 2023 seasons. “And now this year, your season just ends in Week 18, and you’re home like everybody is, sitting on the couch watching it.”

There’s also the pay—the New York Post reported that Olsen’s salary was $10 million on the top announcing team, and $3 million on the second team.

The trouble for Olsen is there is no immediate top spot to jump to. Troy Aikman and Kirk Herbstreit are signed for the next two years at ESPN and Amazon Prime Video, respectively, while Tony Romo (CBS) and Cris Collinsworth (NBC) are signed for even longer.

Olsen’s best bet could be if an expanded 18-game regular season leads to the carve-out of a new rights package at a platform like Netflix, YouTube TV, or Warner Bros. Discovery, but that spot wouldn’t land him in the Super Bowl rotation.