Why Tom Brady is going to cost a former NFL player a lot of money
Former NFL quarterback Tom Brady (wow, that's weird to type) is possibly going to cost another former NFL player a lot of money next year. Now that Brady is retired, he's expected to join the Fox broadcast booth with Kevin Burkhardt as the network's No. 1 team. Brady is going to take 2023 off before […]
Former NFL quarterback Tom Brady (wow, that's weird to type) is possibly going to cost another former NFL player a lot of money next year.
Now that Brady is retired, he's expected to join the Fox broadcast booth with Kevin Burkhardt as the network's No. 1 team. Brady is going to take 2023 off before joining Fox for the 2024 season (at least that's the plan for now…we know Brady's plans tend to change).
Brady's decision to wait a year means that Greg Olsen, who called Super Bowl LVII on Sunday night alongside Burkhardt, will remain in the No. 1 booth at Fox in 2023.
And that's important for Olsen because his $10 million salary is dependent on him being in the No. 1 booth.
According to the New York Post, if Olsen drops to the No. 2 booth at Fox, his salary would be decreased from $10 million to $3 million.
So that means when Brady joins Fox in 2024, Olsen is going to lose a significant chunk of money.
The good news for Olsen, however, is that if Brady joins Fox in 2024 (or if he changes his mind about 2023), the former Chicago Bears/Carolina Panthers tight end could opt out of his contract to go elsewhere.
And considering how popular Olsen has been in the booth so far (he's in his second season as a broadcaster and he's already called a Super Bowl), he would have zero issues finding an attractive new job.
CBS, for example, seems to be skeptical on Tony Romo's future as a lead announcer. I'm sure they'd love to pair Olsen with Jim Nantz — that would instantly be one of the best booths in sports.
We'll see what happens over the next year. Brady could decide he doesn't want to call games for Fox. Or maybe he decides he'd rather work in studio. Or perhaps he chooses to not do any media at all. All options are essentially on the table as Brady works through his future plans.
And Olsen will be paying close attention to those future plans because they're going to have a major impact on his own future.
Featured image via Nathan Ray Seebeck-USA TODAY Sports
