Carolina Panthers great Greg Olsen could be headed for the kind of broadcast chair that matches his résumé.
Andrew Marchand of The Athletic reported that Olsen is “widely considered by people inside the sports-media industry” to be the favorite to take over as ESPN’s Monday Night Football color commentator if Troy Aikman exits the role. Marchand also noted that Olsen has already worked a Super Bowl before Tom Brady replaced him as Kevin Burkhardt’s partner on Fox’s top broadcast team, and that Olsen has been looking to get back to a network’s premier spot.
Olsen’s path back to that level has already included a brief encounter with ESPN leadership. Marchand wrote that he has only met Jimmy Pitaro and Burke Magnus once, and that the meeting was quick. During last year’s College Football Playoff championship, Olsen’s alma mater, Miami, played Buck’s Indiana.
At halftime, Olsen stopped by ESPN’s luxury box to speak with former teammate Dusty Dvoracek, who works as an ESPN college football analyst. While there, Olsen shook hands with Pitaro and Magnus.
The timing matters because Olsen has been on Fox’s No. 2 broadcast team since being bumped from the network’s top crew two seasons ago in favor of Brady, a move that drew plenty of criticism from NFL fans. Since then, Olsen has mostly worked with play-by-play man Joe Davis.
Aikman’s future remains tied to a contract dispute, and Marchand reported that he is believed to be at odds with ESPN and longtime broadcast partner Joe Buck. If Aikman does move on, Olsen could be the one waiting for the opening on Monday nights.
In Other News...
Panthers Fans May See The McCaffrey Trade Very Differently Now
With the NFL trade deadline approaching, cornerback help has become one of the Carolina Panthers clearest needs, and the market is shaping up with an unexpected reference point. The Indianapolis Colts reportedly want a return for Jonathan Taylor that matches what Carolina landed when it sent Christian McCaffrey to San Francisco, which turns an old franchise-defining deal into a fresh measuring stick for how teams value star players in-season.
For Panthers fans, the comparison is hard to ignore because those McCaffrey picks were supposed to help reshape the roster, and the article revisits how Carolina used them and how those moves have aged. What once looked like a clean reset now reads a little differently depending on how you judge the return, and it adds another layer to a deadline period when the Panthers are still trying to solve a pressing need at the back end of the defense. [Read more 🡒]
Panthers Fans Suddenly Have A Real Quenton Nelson Debate
Taylor Motons season-ending injury has only sharpened the focus on Carolinas offensive line, and it has also opened the door to an uncomfortable what-if for Panthers fans. With the unit already under pressure, the recent deal that sent Quenton Nelson to Seattle for a 2027 third-round pick and a 2028 fifth-round pick is the kind of move that naturally makes a team like Carolina wonder whether it should have been in the conversation.
There is no indication the Panthers were actually involved in any trade talks, but the price Seattle paid is low enough to fuel the debate anyway. For a team trying to stabilize the front in the middle of a difficult stretch, Nelsons availability is the sort of opportunity that can linger in the background, especially when the alternative is trying to patch together protection after losing one of the groups most important pieces. [Read more 🡒]
Panthers Cornerback Crisis Could Force A Trade Deadline Decision
The Panthers cornerback room has been hit so hard by injuries that the depth chart has become a weekly survival exercise. With only two healthy cornerbacks left on the active roster as of Week 9, Carolina is trying to patch together a secondary that has been gutted by injuries, while the firing of defensive coordinator Ejiro Evero only adds to the sense that the defense is entering a critical stretch.
That shortage has pushed the trade deadline into sharper focus, and CBS Sports writer Josh Edwards has already floated the idea that Carolina may need outside help. He went a step further by naming five possible cornerback trade targets, a sign that the Panthers may have to decide whether to ride out the injuries or make a move before the market closes. [Read more 🡒]