Seattle Seahawks tight end Greg Olsen signed a deal to be the NFL’s No. 2 TV analyst for Fox Sports after his retirement, he confirmed to ESPN.
The New York Post first reported the deal, citing sources.
Olsen, 35, signed a one-year, $ 7 million contract with Seattle in February after being released by the Carolina Panthers in January. The three-time Pro Bowl team plans to honor that deal and has no set plan on when to retire, a league source told ESPN.com.
Fox’s contract currently plans to pair Olsen with Kevin Burkhardt when Olsen finishes playing. If the Seahawks don’t make the playoffs and Olsen chooses to retire after this season, he could move into an analyst role for the playoffs.
Olsen was considering moving to Fox after his release from Carolina, where from 2014-16 he became the first tight end in NFL history to have three consecutive 1,000-yard seasons. The Seattle deal and a desire to make another Super Bowl run that he failed to win in 2015 at Carolina prompted him to keep playing.
Olsen has made no secret that he would like to pursue a career in sports broadcasting once his football career ends. He received rave reviews for his appearance as a guest analyst for Fox Sports during Carolina’s parting week for the past two seasons.
He has also appeared on the ESPN Postseason Super Bowl Countdown Show for the past two years.
But Olsen has also made clear that he may still be among the best tight ends in the NFL, that only a foot injury in 2017 and ’18 delayed him. He caught 52 passes for 597 yards last season at Carolina.
The Panthers chose to move from Olsen and a 2020 salary cap number of $ 11,675,000 as they begin to rebuild under new coach Matt Rhule.
“The team and I are on the same page that we had better go in different directions for now,” Olsen said in a statement released by the team after its launch. “On the field, I will always appreciate the nine seasons we share together. The wins, the losses, being in the midfield holding the Halas Trophy as NFC champions. The reality of going to the Super Bowl was beyond words, just like that disappointment of falling short. ”
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