Greg Olsen Auditioning For ESPN Analyst Role, Committed To Playing In 2018 & Beyond

Update:

Ian Rapoport of NFL Media reports that Panthers TE Greg Olsen is committed to playing for Carolina in 2018 and beyond and his audition with ESPN is about life after football, not next year.

[divider style=”solid” top=”20″ bottom=”20″]

Andrew Marchand reports that Panthers TE Greg Olsen is auditioning today to be an analyst on ESPN’s Monday Night Football.

According to Marchand, Olsen could still continue his playing career in the NFL if he doesn’t land a great broadcasting job.

Last year, Olsen worked for FOX as an analyst, so it’s clear that he’ll be working for a network once he’s ready to hang up his cleats and call it a career.

Olsen was considering holding out for a new contract last year that would pay him among the top tight ends in the NFL, but decided against skipping training camp and elected to report to the team. The Panthers later agreed to include an additional $2 million in incentives to his contract for the 2017 season.

Olsen, 33, is a former first-round pick of the Bears back in 2007. He played four years for Chicago before he was traded to the Panthers in 2011.

Olsen is entering the final year of a four-year, $27.75 million contract and is set to make a base salary of $6.5 million for the 2018 season.

In 2017, Olsen appeared seven games for the Panthers and caught 17 passes for 191 yards receiving and one touchdown.