Panthers Sign TE Greg Olsen To Two-Year, $17.1M Extension

Update:

The Carolina Panthers officially announced that they’ve signed TE Greg Olsen to a two-year extension on Thursday.

“I’ve made it clear over the past year that I want to keep playing and I want to play here,” Olsen said Thursday. “Both sides were very fair and worked on it in a timely manner. I feel really good about what we were able to get done both for ourselves and the team.

“Obviously, I’m 33, but I’ve played well in my 30s,” Olsen added. “Some of my best football has been since I turned 30. So I feel like I can play for a long time, and not only play, but play well.”

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According to Adam Schefter, the Panthers are signing TE Greg Olsen to a two-year extension today worth $8.55 million.

Schefter adds that Olsen can earn up to $10.05 million in incentives, which would make him the NFL’s highest-paid tight end.

There has been talk about Olsen’s future in the NFL, especially after he auditioned to be an analyst on ESPN’s Monday Night Football. However, it looks like the Panthers stepped up and got a deal done that will ensure he remains in Carolina for the next three years.

Last year, Olsen was considering holding out for a new contract 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 was in 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.