Richard Deitsch of Sports Business Journal reported Thursday that Fox has not opened talks with Greg Olsen about anything past this season.
“FOX has not had any negotiations with Greg Olsen about a contract beyond this season, per industry sources,” Deitsch posted, adding that Olsen “would be a very attractive free agent.”
That is the whole report, and it is enough. Olsen’s deal expires at the end of the 2026 NFL season, and the network that has him under contract is not acting like it wants to keep him.
The Job He Has and the One He Lost
Olsen is Fox’s second NFL game analyst, behind Tom Brady. He used to be the first.
He rose to the top chair over roughly five years after his playing career, working alongside Kevin Burkhardt, and he called Super Bowl LVII in February 2023. Then Fox added Brady, a hire reported at $375 million, and Olsen moved down. Front Office Sports reports he has been the number two for the past two seasons.
His current contract reportedly contains an escape clause letting him leave if a competitor offers him a number one game analyst job. Once the deal expires, that clause stops mattering, because he can simply go.
The Emmy Is the Argument
In May, Olsen won the Sports Emmy for Outstanding Personality and Event Analyst. He beat Tom Brady, Troy Aikman and Cris Collinsworth to do it.
Read that list again. The man Fox demoted won the award over the man Fox promoted, and over the two analysts whose contract situations are driving every other story in this space. Olsen has said publicly he wants a number one broadcast team role somewhere, and he has the hardware to ask for it.
Where He Could Land
CBS is the name most often attached. The role would look like his old Fox job and would put him in the Super Bowl rotation with Jim Nantz. CBS is looking for a lead analyst with Tony Romo on leave and J.J. Watt moved up to the top team. Deitsch notes Olsen had exploratory talks with CBS Sports two years ago.
Amazon is the other live option, on Thursday Night Football, where Kirk Herbstreit’s deal is reportedly conditional on no more attractive candidate becoming available. Olsen is the more attractive candidate.
ESPN is the longer shot and the most interesting one. Troy Aikman confirmed Thursday that he will be a free agent after this season, and ESPN has reportedly made him no formal offer. If that chair opens next to Joe Buck, Olsen is the obvious internal answer from outside.
Staying at Fox requires regaining the number one job, which Brady’s presence makes unlikely for years.
Two Free Agents, One Market
Olsen and Aikman hitting the market in the same cycle is the part the networks have to solve. CBS is unsettled. Amazon has an out clause it may use. ESPN is waiting until after February to decide on Aikman. Fox is apparently not negotiating with the analyst it already has.
Someone is going to end up overpaying, and someone is going to end up with nobody. Olsen, 41, a former Panthers tight end, is the cleanest fix available to any of them.
Fox has until the end of the season to decide it wants him. Based on Thursday’s report, it has not started trying.
A longtime sports reporter, Carlos Garcia has written about some of the biggest and most notable athletic events of the last 5 years. He has been credentialed to cover MLS, NBA and MLB games all over the United States. His work has been published on Fox Sports, Bleacher Report, AOL and the Washington Post.