NFL Rumors: Greg Olsen eyeing Panthers HC job with Tom Brady's $375,000,000 Fox job in loop

Greg Olsen may be out of the broadcasting booth soon, but a lifeline awaits him in familiar territory.

On Monday, The Athletic's Joseph Person and Richard Dietsch, citing sources close to the former tight end, reported that he has shown interest in becoming the Carolina Panthers' next head coach. The NFC's worst team fired Frank Reich on Monday after a 1-10 start and has since been led in the interim by special teams coordinator Chris Tabor.

This comes as Olsen faces an uncertain future with Fox, where he has been serving as lead NFL color commentator/analyst since retiring in 2020. Seven-time Super Bowl champion quarterback Tom Brady signed a record-breaking 10-year, $375-million deal with the network in 2022, but he will not start his tenure until 2024 at the earliest.

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Revisiting Greg Olsen's career with the Carolina Panthers as he eyes HC gig

Other than a stint with his son's Pop Warner team, Greg Olsen has no coaching experience whatsoever, so hiring him may cause immense backlash towards owner David Tepper, given how Jeff Saturday's tenure as head coach of his former Indianapolis Colts panned out.

However, the Carolina Panthers may take inspiration from John Lynch, the Hall-of-Fame safety-turned-Fox analyst who became the general manager of the San Francisco 49ers in 2017 and has since turned them into the NFC's best team. And the best part is, the former tight end knows the franchise very well.

While he was initially drafted by the Chicago Bears in 2007, Olsen did not truly start becoming an elite player until joining the Panthers in 2011. Paired with Cam Newton, he constituted one of the most potent passer-receiver tandems of the mid-2010s, attaining the following milestones:

• 3x Pro Bowl (2014-16)
• 2x All-Pro (2014-15, both Second-Team)
• First tight end to register three consecutive seasons with at least 1,000 receiving yards (also 2014-16)
• Three straight NFC South titles (2013-15)
• A Super Bowl appearance at 50

A foot injury hampered him in his last three years in Charlotte, during which he began dabbling in commentary for Fox, both on bye weeks and in the network's ultimately short-lived XFL coverage in the offseason. He was subsequently released in 2019 and retired after one season with the Seattle Seahawks.