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Tom Brady is slated to make his debut as an NFL analyst when he joins Kevin Burkhardt in the booth this season to form the network’s new top broadcast team.
The legendary quarterback’s gig came at the expense of Greg Olsen, and the retired tight end has made it pretty clear he’s going to be trying to keep his newest colleague on his toes while continuing to vie for the color commentary throne.
Greg Olsen joined Fox’s NFL coverage team in 2021 and only had a year of experience under his belt before he and Burkhardt replaced Joe Buck and Troy Aikman as the network’s top duo.
That promotion meant he got to call the best games on the network’s weekly slate while getting paid a cool $10 million a year, but he found himself in a pretty awkward position after his employer decided to court one of the greatest quarterbacks of all time by inking Tom Brady to a contract before he’d even retired from the NFL.
There were a number of notable names (including Buck) who thought there was a chance Brady would back out of the deal after he hung up his cleats, but as things currently stand, he’s slated to make his debut when the Cowboys and the Browns face off against each other on September 8th.
Olsen—who recently won his second Sports Emmy after beating out the rest of the nominees in the Outstanding Personality as an Event Analyst category—was subsequently demoted to the B-squad alongside Joe Davis and took a $7 million pay cut as a result.
When you consider he’s still making $3 million after racking up more than $70 million in contract earnings alone during his time in the NFL, he’ll probably be more than fine on the financial front.
However, during a recent appearance on the Front Office Sports Today podcast, Olsen made it very clear he’s not content with second place and channeled his inner Ludacris by letting Brady know he’s coming for that number one spot.
Greg Olsen just won an Emmy for his work as Fox’s top NFL analyst last year—but he’ll be bumped for Tom Brady this season.
Olsen still wants the top seat.
“My aspirations are still to be a number one analyst, whether it’s at Fox or elsewhere.”https://t.co/7QeMoll7zn pic.twitter.com/DuKobAVMS5
— Front Office Sports Today (@FOS_Today) May 23, 2024
Olsen stressed Brady has been “super grateful and humble coming on board” and added “I look forward to working with him” but nonetheless made his intentions clear, saying:
“My aspirations are still to be a No. 1 analyst—whether it’s at Fox or elsewhere—and that will never change as long as I do this. I’m not just content to be there. I’m not just happy to have a seat.
I want the top seat, and I want that wherever that opportunity allows and I’ll never stop working for that. I feel more motivated for that than ever.”
It’s not entirely clear when Olsen’s current contract with Fox expires, but he’s obviously more than willing to explore his options if he fails to get the top spot once it runs out.
When you consider Brady’s deal is reportedly worth $375 million over the course of the next decade, it’s a bit hard to imagine the broadcaster will be scrambling to relegate him to a lower tier, so this will be an interesting situation to keep an eye on.